CODE OF GOOD PRACTICES FOR CITIES AIR QUALITY PLANS · VIII Executive summary The Air Quality Plan is a strategic planning instrument introduced by the Ambient Air Quality Directive

CODE OF GOOD PRACTICES

FOR

CITIES AIR QUALITY PLANS

Committed by Partnership on Air Quality - Urban Agenda for the EU

Coordinator:

René Korenromp (Ministry of Infrastructure and the

Environment, NL)

Technical Secretariat:

Luigi Lo Piparo, Chiara Savina (Ecorys Brussels N.V.)

City of Milan

Councillor for Mobility and Environment Department, Milan, IT

Publisher AMAT-Agency for Mobility, Environment and Territory, Milan, IT

Editor, Main Author Silvia Moroni (Milan/AMAT, IT)

Authors and contributors

Anne Stauffer (HEAL - Health and Environment Alliance, BE); Joana Cruz (EUROCITIES,

BE); Magdalena Buresova (Ministry of Environment, CZ); Thomas Griebe (Duisburg,

representing the Consortium Clean Air Ruhr Area, DE); Outi Väkevä (Helsinki/HSY, FI);

Sandra Krmpotić (Croatia, Ministry of Environment and Energy, HR); Enrico Pisoni

(European Commission, JRC - Joint Research Centre, Ispra, IT); Jeroen Schenkels, Floor

Borlée, Iris van den Brenk (Utrecht, NL); Nicole Linkels and René Korenromp (Ministry of

Infrastructure and the Environment, NL); Rob Maas (RIVM - Netherlands National

Institute for Public Health and the Environment, NL); Katarzyna Rutkowska-Newman

(National Fund Environmental Protection and Water Management, PL); Ruxandra Balica

(Constanta, RO); Anna-Maria Spyriouni (Greater London Authority, UK).

and in collaboration with Aeris Europe Ltd. and Ecorys Brussels N.V.

This document is a deliverable of Action 2 - ‘Better Air Quality Planning (Governance)’

of the Action Plan implemented by the EU Urban Agenda - Partnership on Air Quality.

Action 2 is led by the City of Milan/AMAT.

Publication as pdf: https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/air-quality

ISBN 9788894413502 ISBN-A 10.978.88944135/02 https://doi.org/10.978.88944135/02 © AIE/Ediser, 2018

Contact: [email protected]

https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/air-quality

https://doi.org/10.978.88944135/02

I

CODE OF GOOD PRACTICES

FOR

CITIES AIR QUALITY PLANS

Partnership on Air Quality - Urban Agenda for the EU

City of Milan/AMAT

Acknowledgments

The City of Milan/AMAT gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the European

Commission - DG Regional and Urban policy for the production of this publication. Special thanks

to every colleague who contributed to this work with kind support, comments, suggestions and

examples.

Disclaimer

The information and views contained in the present document are those of the Partnership and

do not reflect the official opinion of the European Commission nor that of the Partners. The

Commission and the Partners do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained

therein. Neither the Commission or the Partners nor any person acting on the Commission's

behalf or on that of the Partners’ may be held responsible for the content and the use which may

be made of the information contained therein.

Copyright & reproduction

The ‘Code of Good Practice for Cities Air Quality Plans’ is a Copyright of the Partnership on Air

Quality/AMAT. The contents of this report may not be reproduced in whole or in part, nor

transmitted to any organisation or person without the specific prior written permission of the

Main Author. Partnership on Air Quality/AMAT accepts no liability whatsoever to any third party

for any loss or damage arising from any interpretation or use of the information contained in this

report, or reliance on any views expressed therein.

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III

Partnership on Air Quality The Urban Agenda for the EU - consolidated with the Pact of Amsterdam, agreed on 30

May 2016 by the EU Ministers responsible for Urban Matters - has introduced a new

working method of thematic Partnerships being elaborated by partners representing

various governance authorities aiming to tackle social challenges by focussing on cities.

It aims to promote cooperation between Member States, Cities, the European

Commission and other stakeholders, in order to stimulate growth, liveability and

innovation in the cities of Europe. The Partnership on Air Quality is one of the 12 priority

themes of the “Urban Agenda for the EU”.

The main objective of the Partnership on Air Quality is to improve air quality in cities and

to bring the ‘healthy city’ higher on the local, national and EU agendas as part of the

Urban Agenda. This will be done through improving the development and/or

implementation of regulation, funding mechanisms and knowledge at all levels, as well

as the coordination between them.

The Partnership’s actions and recommendations also aim to contribute to the goals of

the New Urban Agenda and to the targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Partnership on Air Quality is composed by:

EU Member States:

- The Netherlands (Coordinator)

- Croatia

- Czech Republic

- Poland

Cities:

- Helsinki/HSY1 (FI)

- London (UK)

- Utrecht (NL)

- Milan (IT)

- Constanta (RO)

- Duisburg (DE) - representing the Consortium Clean Air Ruhr Area

Stakeholders:

- EUROCITIES

- HEAL2

European Commission:

- DG Regional and Urban policy (Coordinator), DG Environment, DG Research &

Innovation, DG Agriculture, DG Growth, the Joint Research Centre.

URBACT follows the work of the Partnership as an observer.

1 Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority. 2 Health and Environment Alliance.

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V

“As a society, we should not accept the cost of air pollution.

With bold decisions and smart investments in cleaner transport, energy and

agriculture, we can both tackle pollution and improve our quality of life.

It is encouraging to see that many European governments and specifically cities

are showing leadership in protecting people's health by improving air quality.

Clean air belongs to everyone, including people living in cities.”

Hans Bruyninckx Executive Director of European Environment Agency

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VII

Preface

Air pollution is one of the main environmental concerns in Europe, especially in urban areas where three quarters of Europeans live. Poor air quality in cities is associated with significant health effects which lead to huge societal and economic costs. Finding solutions to improve air quality is one of the greatest challenges for Europe.

This Code of Good Practice provides guidelines for cities for drafting and implementing of Air Quality Plans, prescriptive instruments introduced by the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC in order to achieve EU standards. The Code includes a presentation of other tools developed by the Partnership on Air Quality to realize the ‘Healthy city’. The Code is one of the results of the actions undertaken by the Partnership on Air Quality under the umbrella of the European Urban Agenda.

Cities are places where exposure to air pollution exposure higher. They also remain the immediate level of intervention for dealing with threats to human health coming from pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and ground-level Ozone (O3).

EU legislation introduced Air Quality Plans as compulsory for zones or agglomerations within which concentrations of pollutants in ambient air exceed Limit or Target values for protection of human health. The purpose of Air Quality Plans is to set effective measures for attaining Limit or Target Values while keeping the period of exceedance ‘as short as possible’. The implementation of an Air Quality Plan can also bring other additional benefits for the quality of life in urban areas, contributing to attain the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations for the 2030 Agenda.

This Code is not intended to be a fully exhaustive handbook for drafting an Air Quality Plan. Nevertheless, the Partnership believes that it can be very helpful for cities that are designing and implementing air quality plans, and that it can even inspire cities that want to manage air quality issues and at the same time generate multiple benefits for their inhabitants, for the ecosystem and for the economy. This Code has also been designed to support local decision-making, by improving understanding in Air Quality plans, by showing tested ways to comply with applicable EU legislation, and by helping cities bringing down concentrations of air pollutants and thus improve public health.

The measures defined by an Air Quality Plan to reduce air pollution should address different sectors, whose enforcement and implementation are of respective competence of urban, regional, national or EU authorities, thus co-operation between different levels of governance and integration of planning undertaken at different level or in different sectors is a key factor for improving air quality in cities.

René Korenromp Coordinator of the Partnership on Air Quality

The Netherlands, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment

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Executive summary

The Air Quality Plan is a strategic planning instrument introduced by the Ambient Air

Quality Directive 2008/50/EC (AAQD). The drafting on an Air Quality Plan (AQP) is

compulsory for any ‘zone’ or ‘agglomeration’ within which the concentrations of

pollutants in ambient air ‘exceed any Limit value or Target value’ designed for the

protection of human health. The AAQD legislation requires that an Air Quality Plan sets

out appropriate, cost-effective measures to achieve compliance with air quality Limit

or Target values while keeping the period of exceedance ‘as short as possible’.

The adoption of an Air Quality Plan has some direct environmental and societal benefits

such as the improvement of the health of residents and city users - with reduction of

the associated economic impact - and positive feedback for climate change effects

mitigation. The implementation of an Air Quality Plan can have also other additional

benefits for quality of life in cities, contributing to reach many of the United Nations

Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 Agenda.

It is not easy to find guidelines on how to draft and implement AQP at local level that

could be used by cities of different EU Member States, due to different approaches

adopted at national level for implementing Dir. 2008/50/EC. Existing guidelines are not

recent or mainly focus on tools for the elaboration of a plan, rather than on the legal

and management processes that have to be followed for its preparation, adoption and

implementation. This is the reason for drafting this Code, which is specifically designed

to help cities and local authorities in charge of planning Air Quality plans comply with

EU legislation and better protect the health of citizens and the environment.

The mandatory pieces of information that must be included in an AQP are listed in

Section A of Annex XV of the AAQD (see Section 4.1 - Mandatory Elements and Appendix

I of the Code). These include an analysis of the situation based on monitored AQ data

and related maps of non-attainment areas, on the use of modelling tools for the

assessment of pollution sources (emission inventory, source apportionment, pollutant

dispersion models, etc.) and on the relative effectiveness of possible measures in

achieving compliance with AQ Limit or Target values. Details of abatement measures

and any associated projects adopted with a view to reducing pollution should each be

listed and described in an AQP with an accompanying timetable for implementation, as

well as the authority responsible for it and the related follow-up (or monitoring of the

plan).

By means of Cities AQPs local administration could add to the overarching (regional and

national) Air Quality planning instruments important local specific measures, that

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cannot be managed at higher level of governance, counting on its peculiar tasks and

powers. In the meantime, a number of measures defined as ‘necessary to reach the

targets’ during the elaboration of a city AQP cannot be solved solely at an urban level

and should address different sectors whose enforcement and implementation could be

of competence of overarching authorities, such as Metropolitan area or Agglomeration,

Regions, Members States or EU institutions. Thus, co-operation between different level

of governance and integration of planning regarding different sectors is a key factor

for a real improvement of cities air quality (see Section 4.3 - Integration with other Plans

and Programmes).

Starting from April 2019 local authorities should consider the National Air Pollution

Control Plan (NAPCP) compulsorily published by Member States as part of the Dir.

2016/2284/EU, the so-called National Emission Ceiling Directive (NECD). Since each

Member State should draw up, adopt and implement a NAPCP with a view to complying

with its emission reduction commitments, and to contributing effectively to the

achievement of the air quality objectives, it is expected that adopted NAPCP should

contribute to the successful implementation of Air Quality Plans established under

Article 23 of Directive 2008/50/EC.

In accordance with the AAQD (art. 26) and the Directive 2003/35/EC (Public Participation

Directive - PPD) the process of drafting an AQP must be open to public participation at

all stages of development (see Section 6.2 - Participatory approach). To prepare this

public dialogue, to improve acceptability of the proposed measures and to increase

efficacy on their implementation, a good practice for cities administration, starting since

the first steps of the AQP process, would be to raise citizens awareness on AQ issues

through transparent and more accessible information on AQ monitored data, health

effects related to poor air quality and disseminate good practices in transport, energy

and other related sectors to reduce citizens responsibility in emission production (see

Section 6.1 - Citizens Awareness).

The AAQD and Decision 2011/850/EU (so-called ‘IPR Directive’) state that once an AQP

has been initiated, the relevant level of governance is required to compile, with the help

of the IPR Guidelines, the mandatory elements with a specific procedure that

automatically process data by an electronic tool, part of the EU’s e-Reporting system

(see Section 4.5 - E-reporting format and Requirements).

The follow-up of the AQP is performed by regular updating of the indicators set during

the elaboration on the plan that would show the degree of the measures’

implementation and their real impact on air quality levels.

The European Commission (EC) monitors the implementation of EU legislation in

Member States to ensure that laws achieve their intended objectives and that all

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countries of the EU respect the rules that have been agreed. In this context the EC

through the e-reporting system controls the correct drafting and implementation of Air

quality Plans in EU. Once an AQP is produced it must be communicated to the

Commission within two years from the end of the calendar year in which the first

exceedance was observed. If an AQP is not delivered to the legislated requirements

under the relevant Directives, then infringement procedures may be opened against a

Member State.

The Partnership observed that dynamics of measures implementation of an Air Quality

Plan are to a high degree influenced by the business plans of each individual competent

authority, primarily their organizational capacities and the availability of necessary

financial resources. Several EU and national funds are available to prepare and

implement national, regional and local air quality policies. However, an overall lack of

specific programmes dedicated to funding of projects aimed at air pollution reduction

has been observed and access to procedures to acquire funding for clean air projects

from EU funds is considered difficult by many local authorities. Thus, the Partnership

found necessary to explore ways to assess funding needs for the sustainable

design/implementation of Cities Air Quality Plans, to design an appropriate business

model to fund air quality measures and a Guidance for cities looking for funding AQPs

that have been developed in co-operation with the European Investment Bank (See

Section 6.3 Funding opportunities).

This Code is not intended to be a fully exhaustive guidance for the preparation and

implementation of a AQP, but would be of help in the practical work and could be a

source of inspiration for cities that want to manage air quality issues. This is done,

starting from legislation and state of the art and presenting a list of good practices in

drafting Air Quality Plan in full compliance with Directive 2008/50/EC provisions

(Appendix IV) and examples of Air Quality measures recently planned or successfully

adopted on in EU cities (Appendix V).

A short list of recommendations from the Partnership on Air Quality closes the

document.

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Table of Contents

Preface VII

Executive summary VIII

Table of Figures XIII

Table of Boxes XIV

Abbreviations and Acronyms XV

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 INSTRUCTION FOR USE 2

3 WHY TO DEVELOP A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN 3 3.1 Compliance with EU Legislation 4 3.2 Health Protection and other purposes 7 3.3 Related additional benefits 7

4 WHAT CONTENT FOR A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN 10 4.1 Mandatory Elements 10 4.2 Suggested structure 13 4.3 Integration with other Plans and Programmes 14 4.4 Strategic Environmental Assessment 23 4.5 E-Reporting Format and Requirements 27

5 HOW TO DEVELOP A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN 30 5.1 Process main steps 30 5.2 Process checklist 32 5.3 Key factors 37

6 HOW TO MANAGE AND IMPLEMENT A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN 39 6.1 Citizens Awareness 39

6.1.1 Recommendations for air quality and health-friendly behaviour .................. 40

6.1.2 Citizens’ science projects ................................................................................ 40

6.1.3 Communication during pollution peaks ......................................................... 41

6.1.4 Challenges in awareness raising .................................................................... 41

6.2 Participatory approach 43

6.2.1 Stakeholders involvement .............................................................................. 44

6.2.2 Public consultation ......................................................................................... 46 6.3 Funding opportunities 48

6.4 Monitoring, Reporting and Reviewing 54

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7 METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS FOR ELABORATING A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN 57 7.1 Background analysis 59

7.1.1 Air Quality Assessment .................................................................................. 59

7.1.2 Population exposure and health effects......................................................... 64

7.1.3 Emission inventory and projections ............................................................... 67

7.1.4 Source apportionment ................................................................................... 70

7.1.5 Other pressure elements ................................................................................ 75

7.2 Air Quality Plan objectives 77

7.2.1 Exceedances Areas ......................................................................................... 77

7.2.2 Target Pollutants ........................................................................................... 77

7.2.3 Indicators ....................................................................................................... 77

7.2.4 Period of reference ......................................................................................... 77

7.3 Measures to improve air quality 78

7.3.1 Measures to improve air quality in relation to existing plans and measures 78

7.3.2 Proposed measures for the improvement of air quality ................................ 79

7.4 Assessing the effectiveness of measures 84

7.4.1 Air Quality impacts ........................................................................................ 85

7.4.2 Health impacts ............................................................................................... 91

7.4.3 Climate change impact .................................................................................. 96

7.5 Selecting and prioritizing measures 98 7.6 Listing and describing the measures selected 102

REFERENCES 105

LEGISLATION 115

APPENDIXES i

I List of mandatory elements of an Air Quality Plan ii

II List of existing guidelines for Air Quality Plans iv

III List of existing guidelines for Short-term Action Plans vii

IV Cities Air Quality Plans: examples of best practices viii

V Examples of Air Quality measures xii

VI Recommendations for Air Quality Planning on Good Policies, Governance and Practices xxviii

XIII

Table of Figures

Figure 1 - Percentage of the urban population in the EU-28 exposed to air pollutant concentrations above certain EU and WHO reference concentrations, in 2013-2015 period .............................................................................................. 3

Figure 2 - United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 Agenda ........... 8

Figure 3 - Air Pollution in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals................ 9

Figure 4 - The suggested Table of Content of an Air Quality Plan .................................. 13

Figure 5 - SEA/EIA Field of application for Programmes, Plans and Projects in Germany (Federal German Act on EIA/SEA of 2011 - Annex 1 and 3) ............................ 23

Figure 6 - Integration of SEA into planning or decision making process in Germany (Federal German Act on EIA/SEA of 2011) ...................................................... 25

Figure 7 - The European Air Quality Portal website ....................................................... 27

Figure 8 - Process main steps for development and maintenance of a City Air Quality Plan .................................................................................................................. 31

Figure 9 - Checklist of the Process flow .......................................................................... 33

Figure 10 - Schematic representation of the contribution of different scale sources to urban concentrations of pollutants ................................................................ 71

Figure 11 - Cross section West to East City of Cologne, DE ............................................ 72

Figure 12 - PM2.5 source apportionment based on the SHERPA tool for two large EU cities (Copenhagen and Berlin). ...................................................................... 73

Figure 13 - Thermal inversion effect on air pollution dispersion features ..................... 76

Figure 14 - Air quality measures, examples of Good Practice given in the Appendix V . 81

Figure 15 - The DPSIR Framework Concept, adopted by EEA, applied to Air Quality in FP7 Appraisal Project to explain the effectiveness of measures (Responses) assessment performed in an AQP ................................................................... 85

Figure 16 - Percentage of population with chronic diseases whose disease could be attributed to living near busy streets and roads in 10 APHEKOM project cities ......................................................................................................................... 92

Figure 17 - Air quality and Climate Change challenge in measures selection ................ 97

XIV

Table of Boxes

Box 1 - Standard format of an infringement proceeding text for Article 23 of Directive 2008/50/EC .......................................................................................................... 6

Box 2 - Example of screening process result for SEA on an Air Quality Plan in London - Hackney Council (UK) ......................................................................................... 26

Box 3 - European Air Quality Portal Dataflow ................................................................ 28

Box 4 - Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) ....................................................................... 29

Box 5 - Key elements in the Preparation phase of the AQP ........................................... 32

Box 6 - Key elements in Elaboration phase of the Air Quality Plan ................................ 35

Box 7 - Key elements in Adoption phase of the Air Quality Plan ................................... 36

Box 8 - Key factors for successful development of Cities AQPs ..................................... 37

Box 9 - Best Practices for stakeholder involvement in AQP ........................................... 44

Box 10 - Best practices for the public consultation of AQPs .......................................... 46

Box 11 - Better funding tools for Cities Air Quality Plans developed by Partnership Air Quality and European Investment Bank ............................................................ 49

Box 12 - The DPSIR Framework Concept, adopted by EEA, applied to Air Quality in FP7 Appraisal Project ................................................................................................ 58

Box 13 - European Commission Catalogue of Air Quality Measures .............................. 80

Box 14 - HIA tool developed by the Partnership on Air Quality ..................................... 93

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Abbreviations and Acronyms

APHEKOM Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air

Pollution and Health in Europe project

AQP Air Quality Plan

AQPs Air Quality Plans

B(a)P Benzo(a)pyrene

BC Black Carbon

CHD Coronary Heart Disease

CLRTAP UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution

CO2 Carbon Dioxide

COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

CRF Concentration-Response Function

CVD Cardiovascular disease

DALY Disability-Adjusted Life Year; metric for indicating burden of disease

based on the combination of years of life lost YLL and years lost due to

disability YLD

DPF Diesel Particulate Filter

DPSIR Driving forces, Pressure, State, Impact, Response: causal framework for

describing the interactions between society and environment, adopted

by the EEA

EC Elemental Carbon

EEA European Environmental Agency

EEV Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicles

EU European Union

FAIRMODE Forum for AIR quality MODElling in Europe

GDP Gross Domestic Product

HIA Health Impact Assessment

COPERT COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport

HBEFA HandBook Emission FActors for road transport

HRAPIE Health Risks of Air Pollution In Europe project

LEZ Low Emission Zone

LTZ Limited Traffic Zone

NAPCP National Air Pollution Control Programme

NNRM Non-Road Mobile Machinery

NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide

O3 Ozone

PAQ Partnership for Air Quality

PM Particulate Matter

PM10 Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 μm

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PM2.5 Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 μm

REVIHAAP Review of Evidence on Health Aspects of Air Pollution project

RR Relative Risk; describes the likelihood of adverse health effects

occurring in high exposed populations compared to low exposed

populations

SEA Sustainable Energy Action Plan

SHERPA Screening for High Emission Reduction Potential on Air project

SUMP Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

UNECE United Nation Economic Commission for Europe

WHO World Health Organization

YLD Years Lost due to Disability, a component of DALYs

YLL Years of Life Lost, a component of DALYs

μg/m3 Microgram(s) per cubic meter

1

1 INTRODUCTION

The work of the Partnership on Air Quality has allowed identifying issues of concern for many cities relating to the development and implementation of their Air Quality Plans (AQPs). Notably, it has been found that: ✓ access to knowledge and experiences on processes of preparing AQP (e.g.

pitfalls, stakeholder interactions, governance, evaluation, etc.) from front-runner cities having already designed and implemented AQPs is often crucial to avoid inefficiencies, and that such knowledge should be improved.

✓ Knowledge of best practices in the selection, design, funding, and implementation of air quality measures is essential to facilitate the choice of the relatively most effective measures for the AQP, and that such knowledge should be improved.

An analysis of existing guidelines for drafting and implementing AQPs performed by the Partnership (see Annex II and Annex III) showed that there is a need for an EU-wide valid document, updated with most recent directives to guide municipalities in the process of adopting an AQP. The Partnership identified the following actions to tackle the problem described above: ✓ development of a Code of Good Practice for Cities Air Quality Plans aiming to

present good examples of some cities interpretation of the content listed under Annex XV, Section A of Directive 2008/50/EC.

✓ Assemble and keep updated the JRC register of best practices in urban air quality planning, in order to encourage the dissemination of knowledge on relevant air quality measures and facilitate comparative analysis on their relative effectiveness.

The Code of Good Practice for Cities Air Quality Plans, is one of the main products of the Action 2 - Better Air Quality Planning (Governance) included in the Action Plan of the Partnership on Air Quality, together with the updating of the Catalogue of Air Quality Measures managed by the JRC3. This Code of Good Practice was developed with the co-operation of the Members of the Partnership Air Quality, joining forces, competences and experiences. It is the result of a work that lasted more than a year, started with the collection of Air Quality Plans, dedicated questionnaires, and followed by technical meetings and public stakeholder engagement events.

3 http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/measure-catalogue.

2

2 INSTRUCTION FOR USE

The Code of Good Practice for Cities Air Quality Plans is organized in the way described in the followings. Motivations to draft and implementing a City’s AQP are listed in Section 3 - Why to develop a City Air Quality Plan, starting from compliance to EU legislation up to the contribution in reaching some United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 Agenda. Section 4 presents the Content of the City Air quality Plan starting from mandatory elements listed in Section A of Annex XV of the Ambient Air Quality Directive and considering all factors that could influence the organization of the content. The Section 5 - How to develop a City Air Quality Plan contains schemes and suggestions to organize the process of drafting and implementing a City Air Quality Plan, together with a list of successful factors for the related governance. In Section 6 - How to manage and implement a City Air Quality Plan are reported the key elements that need to be considered to obtain a smart process, required both by legislation and by pragmatism, based on hands-on experience. Section 7 - Methodology and tools for elaborating an City Air Quality Plan contains state-of-the-art methodologies to perform the assessments needed for developing the strategy of the Air quality Plan together with practical examples selected by collected and analysed EU Cities Air quality Plans. Each topic starts with references to the legislation, with citation of the related articles of directives and the description of required elements and tasks. The Code presents ‘state-of-the-art’ methodologies and practices developed in existing AQPs that present different levels of commitment (human resources, budget, computing capability, etc.). In special boxes are presented some examples of good practices adopted by cities or Member States for each topic dealt in Sections. In the Appendixes, apart from lists of existent guidelines for AQ planning and related tools and measures (Appendix II and Appendix III) some examples of AQPs in full compliance with Directive 2008/50/EC (Appendix IV), and examples of Air Quality Measures successfully adopted (Appendix V) are presented. Close the Code of Good Practice for Cities Air Quality Plans recommendations from the Partnership on Air Quality about air quality planning: Good Policies, Good Governance and Good Practice (Appendix VI).

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3 WHY TO DEVELOP A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN

Air quality is one of the most important environmental issue in EU, being long-term exposure to PM2.5 responsible for about 428 000 premature deaths in 2014; NO2 and O3 are responsible respectively for 78 000 and 14 400 premature deaths in the same year (EEA, 2017a). Reduction of life expectancy, chronic diseases, hospital admissions, medical expenses and working days lost mean a huge societal impact and an economic cost assessed around 5% of GDP for EU (World Bank-IHME, 2016). Impact on human health is higher in cities, where hundreds of thousands to several millions people live and are exposed in direct proximity to toxic pollutants emitted by vehicular traffic, residential heating systems and power facilities, shipping activities, construction sites, solvent use, etc. Exposure of such kind of pollutant activities refers both to residential population and daily ‘city users’, enlarging the wideness of the problem in term of health-related burden of air pollution that is significant for both short-term and long-term exposure. As Figure 1 shows, the percentage of the urban population in the EU-28 exposed to air pollutant concentrations above certain EU and WHO reference concentrations is still too high, and it is clear that a lot of work has to be done to reduce pollution in urban areas and reach the ‘Healthy City’.

Figure 1 - Percentage of the urban population in the EU-28 exposed to air pollutant concentrations above certain EU and WHO reference concentrations, in 2013-2015 period

Source: EEA, 2018; EEA, 2017a

3 -Why to develop a City Air Quality Plan

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Cities constitute the immediate administrative level to implement specific actions to reduce polluting activities and improve local air quality. Mayors are the public authority responsible for health of citizens: these two elements bring to the conclusion that air quality governance at urban level can be a challenge that must be tackled to gain overall public health benefits. On the other hand, not all the problems related to a city’s air quality can be solved at local level. It is therefore important to manage policies with an integrated approach that brings cities to work together with the higher level of governance (National Government, Regions, Metropolitan Authorities) or to lobby at international level if needed (e.g. to fight transboundary pollution).

3.1 Compliance with EU Legislation

Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008

on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (‘Ambient Air Quality Directive’ -

AAQD): Art. 2, art. 23, art. 24, art. 25, Annexes VII, XI, XII, XIV, XV

Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1480 of 28 August 2015 amending several annexes

to Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council laying down the rules concerning reference methods, data validation and

location of sampling points for the assessment of ambient air quality

Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU of 12 December 2011 laying down

rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of

the Council as regards the reciprocal exchange of information and reporting on

ambient air quality (notified under document C (2011) 9068) (‘IPR Decision’)

Directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December

2004 relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbons in ambient air (‘Fourth Daughter Directive’)

Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of 14 December 2016 of the European Parliament and of

the Council on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants,

amending Directive 2003/35/EC and repealing Directive 2001/81/EC (‘National

Emissions Ceilings Directive’ - NECD)


providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and

programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public

participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC

(‘Public Participation Directive’ - PPD)

The Air Quality Plan (AQP) is a strategic planning instrument introduced in the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC (AAQD). The drafting of an AQP is compulsory for any


5

‘zone’ or ‘agglomeration’ within which the concentrations of pollutants in ambient air ‘exceed any Limit value or Target value’ designed for the protection of human health. These values are specified in Annexes VII, XI of the Ambient Air Quality Directive. The AAQD legislation requires an AQP to set out appropriate, cost-effective measures to achieve compliance with air quality limit or target values while keeping the period of exceedance ‘as short as possible’. The mandatory elements that must be included in an AQP can be found in Section 4.1 - Mandatory Elements. These include a description of measures, assessment on the impact of measures, as well as the authority responsible for monitoring the measures. An AQP may additionally include measures aimed at protecting sensitive population groups, including children. In situations where a zone or agglomeration is experiencing exceedances of more than one pollutant, the legislation suggests that a single ‘Integrated’ AQP is produced. An integrated plan can help properly account for co-benefits of emissions reduction measures as well as help reduce the burden of drafting and implementing different plans. AQPs may include short-term measures, designed to mitigate the effects of current or predicted exceedances of one or more Alert thresholds (specified in Annex XII and related to NO2, SO2 and O3) or one or more Limit values or Target values (specified in Annexes VII, XI and XIV and related to O3 and PM2.5). In the case of a predicted or current exceedance of an Alert threshold, a Member State ‘shall’ draft a Short-term Action Plan, indicating the effective measures to be taken to reduce the risk or duration of such an exceedance4. In the case of a current or predicted exceedance of a Limit or Target value a Member State ‘may’ draft a Short-term Action Plan. The measures in a Short-term Action Plan should aim to address high pollution episodes that last days or weeks and can include the control or suspension of activities contributing to the exceedance. These measures can include suspension of specific industrial processes or motor-vehicle traffic. Each Member State is responsible for achieving and maintaining air quality target and limit values, and consequently for drafting and implementing AQPs as necessary. A Member State may devolve some or all these responsibilities to regional or local authorities, while all public bodies, including local and regional authorities, are required to work to achieve EU air quality target or limit values and cooperate with overarching authorities in implementing identified mitigation measures. The AAQD refers to AQPs as covering zones and agglomerations: ✓ ‘Zones and agglomerations’ are defined by each Member State for the

purposes of air quality assessment and management; ✓ an ‘agglomeration’ corresponds to a special type of zone that exceeds 250,000

inhabitants, or with a given population density per km² which for the Member States ‘justifies the need for ambient air quality to be assessed and managed’5.

4 However, Dir. 2008/50/EC in Art. 24 specifies that, where there is a risk that the Alert Threshold for Ozone specified in

Section B of Annex XII will be exceeded, Member States shall only draw up such Short-Term Action Plans when in their opinion there is a significant potential, taking into account national geographical, meteorological and economic

conditions, to reduce the risk, duration or severity of such an exceedance. 5 Directive 2008/50/EC: Article 2 (17).


6

Given these criteria, larger cities are often represented as a single zone or agglomeration responsible for managing air quality, including the drafting of AQPs. In cases where transboundary sources are a significant contributor to exceedances, the Member States concerned shall cooperate in enacting measures to eliminate the exceedances. This can include joint activities including the drafting of a joint or coordinated AQP. In the preparation of AQPs, local authorities should consider the National Air Pollution Control Plan (NAPCP) compulsorily published by Member States as part of the National Emission Ceiling Directive (NECD) from April 2019. The NAPCP may contain information that should be considered when drafting AQPs or contain actions that require local implementation. On the other hand NAPCPs would include information related to AQPs, such as their effectiveness in local compliance for Limit and Target values. More details on NAPCPs for the NEC Directive and vertical policy integration can be found in Section. 4.3 - Integration with other Air Quality Plans and Programmes. In accordance with the AAQD (art. 26) and the Directive 2003/35/EC (Public Participation Directive - PPD) the process of drafting an AQP must be open to public participation at all stages of development, as described in Section 6.2 - Participatory approach. Once an AQP is produced, it must be communicated to the Commission within two years from the end of the calendar year in which the first exceedance was observed. If an AQP is not delivered to the legislated requirements under the relevant Directives, then infringement proceedings may be brought against a Member State. Follow-up and reporting requirements are covered in more detail in Section 6.4 - Monitoring, reporting and Reviewing and in Section 4.5 - E-Reporting format and requirement. AQPs are classed as public documents and should be made publicly available, free of charge, by means of any easily accessible media, including the internet. Box 1 - Standard format of an infringement proceeding text for Article 23 of Directive 2008/50/EC

Infringement Proceedings - Member State

Infringements of Article 23 of Directive 2008/50/EC have been taken up by the Court of Justice

of the European Union (CJEU).

✓ On xx/xx/xxxx the CJEU found the Member State government6 to be in breach of having

systematically and continuously exceeded PM10 limit values throughout its territory and

for having failed to prepare air quality plans, which would keep the duration of the breach

as short as possible (Case X-XXX/XX) 7

✓ XXXXX failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 23(1) to keep the duration of the breach

“as short as possible” from xx/xx/xxxx until xxxx, by adopting appropriate measures in an

air quality plan. Failure to comply with this judgment and, therefore, to improve the

existing, inadequate, air quality plans would expose Member State to the payment of fines.

6 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/ 7 http://curia.europa.eu/juris/recherche.jsf?language=en


7

3.2 Health Protection and other purposes

The main purpose of an AQP is the legal compliance with the achievement and/or the maintenance of EU Air Quality Limit Values or Target values settled by the Directive 2008/50/EC (Annex XI and XIV). As in the current practice AQPs can also be developed to pursuit the following purposes that if declared could increase the public acceptance of the AQP:

✓ Improvement of the health of residents and city users due to reduction of air pollution exposure with benefit both for short-term and long-term related effects (increase of life expectancy, reduction for cancer risk, less cardiovascular and respiratory illness such as asthma, less neurological disorders and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, etc.) with special focus on sensitive people (children, young, elders, chronic patients, woman in pregnancy, etc.);

✓ Reduction of the economic impact associated with burden of diseases and healthcare cost related to health effects of air pollution exposure (chronic and short-term diseases, hospital admissions, loss of work days, …);

✓ Improvement of the quality of life related to improvement of health condition and to liveability of the city (e.g. less congestion in streets can bring more ‘liveable’ areas for pedestrian with higher safety levels and less noise, …);

✓ Reduce social inequalities in term of health and quality of life linked to local air pollution;

✓ Integrate Air Quality into the decision-making process for other municipal sectorial plans and strategies keeping air quality high on the agenda.

3.3 Related additional benefits

In addition to the objects listed in the previous Sections the adoption of a City Air Quality Plan can bring additional health, social, environmental and economic benefits that can summarized as in the followings:

1. Improve health of citizens in an indirect way, through measure adopted (e.g. health benefits due to promotion of active commuting8 and reduction of traffic fluxes through discouraging private transport)

2. Most part of intervention to improve air quality could have positive feedback for climate change effects mitigation. In fact, in general the reduction of combustion activities, needed to reduce air pollutants, brings contemporarily the decrease of CO2 emission, first product of fossil fuel combustion. Attention

8 Cycling and walking.


8

must be taken for the opposite: climate change mitigation actions not always bring positive effects on air quality 9

3. Reduction of vehicle traffic on streets could let to reduction on noise and related health issues;

4. Saving money when damage and soiling of buildings and cultural heritage is decreased;

5. Less damage and loss of vegetation patrimony of the city, due to demonstrated effects of critical level of O3, NOx and SO2;

6. Saving money and economic profits for agricultural production preservation, for les damage to crops (see previous point);

7. Less pollution in water due to less leaching into aquifers and basins;

8. More biodiversity in the urban environment;

9. Improve the public image /common perception of the city;

10. Increase the economic attractiveness and the competition capability of the city, bringing more international investors, companies, employers and tourists.

11. Increase the competition capability of the city in application process for EU funding opportunity.

The adoption of an Air Quality Plan through the implementation of its measures contribute to reach many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals settled by United Nations for the 2030 Agenda10 (Figure 2 and Figure 3)

Figure 2 - United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 Agenda

Source: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

9 See also Section 5.5.3 - Climate Change Impact. 10 United Nations, 2015 - ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, Resolution 70/1

adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, 21 October 2015


9

Figure 3 - Air Pollution in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Source: In EEA, 2017, adapted from UNICEF 2016

10

4 WHAT CONTENT FOR A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN

4.1 Mandatory Elements



AAQD): Art. 23; Section A of Annex XV





Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of 14 December 2016 of the European Parliament and of

the Council on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants,



Commission Decision of 19 March 2004 concerning guidance for implementation of

Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to ozone

in ambient air (notified under document number C(2004) 764)

According to the Ambient Air Quality Directive - AAQD (Dir. 2008/50/EC) an Air Quality Plan (AQP) is a planning instrument settling ‘appropriate’ measures in order to attain the Limit values or Target values set out in the Directive. AQPs have to comply with certain obligations, as far as a list of specific content: AQPs shall incorporate at least the information listed in Section A of Annex XV of the AAQD (see Appendix III of this Code). A detailed guide covering the mandatory elements for AQPs is presented in the Commission’s Decision 2011/850/EU (IPR Guidelines) 11. The information to be included in the AQPs, in compliance to the cited Directives are described in the following:

✓ The localisation of excess pollution should be described within a region or city with a map and geographical coordinates of the measuring station(s) reporting the exceedance(s). Measuring stations should have a unique unambiguous code that has been generated by the Member State and used for the reporting.

11 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance1.pdf and

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance2.pdf



4 -What content for a City Air Quality Plan

11

✓ General information about the environment in which the exceedance has occurred is required, such as whether the zone is in a city, rural or industrial area including an estimation of the polluted area (km2), or km of road, and of the population exposed to the pollution. This helps to assess the scale of any possible effects on public health, especially in densely populated urban environments and among the most susceptible and vulnerable groups. The classification of an urban area describes the location with respect to distribution and density of building and should distinguish it from suburban and rural areas. Urban areas are continuously built-up, meaning complete (or at least highly predominant) building-up of the street front side by buildings with at least two floors or large detached buildings with at least two floors12 (IPR Guidelines). It is also necessary to provide useful climatic data and relevant data on topography with sufficient information on the type of targets requiring protection in the zone.

✓ Responsible authorities, the names and addresses of persons responsible for

the development and implementation of air quality improvement plans are required. Competent authorities in an urban environment might conduct the AQP(s) themselves or contract third party organisations to fulfil some or all of the requirements in the AQP.

✓ The nature and assessment of the pollution should include concentrations

observed over previous years and concentrations measured since the beginning of any associated air quality improvement measures (see Section 7.1.1 - Air Quality Assessment).

✓ The origin of the pollution should be identified with a list of the main emission

sources responsible and a corresponding map of the area, contributions lower than 3% are not considered significant13. The total quantity of emissions from these sources (tonnes/year) should be presented together with information on pollution imported from other regions. Main emission sources have to be categorized in coherence with the classification required by the e-reporting system (see Section 6.4 and Section 4.5)

✓ Analysis of the situation should detail the factors responsible for the

exceedance (e.g. transport, including cross-border sources and formation of secondary pollutants in the atmosphere). Accurately determining emission source apportionment is important when an exceedance situation can be considered as an amalgamation of individual exceedances, which if comprised of similar source apportionment could be managed together as a macro exceedance. Source apportionment must therefore be relevant to each individual exceedance situation and be applicable to the monitoring station or modelled location with the maximum exceedance situation. It must reflect regional, urban and local contributions within the Member State and include transboundary contributions. Urban and local contributions must be further

12 With the exception of city parks, large railway stations, urban motorways and motorway junctions, the built-up area

is not mixed with non-urbanised areas 13 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance1.pdf



12

divided to identify any significant sources such as transport (road traffic and shipping), industry (including heat and power production), agriculture, commercial and residential sources. It is essential to establish how the exceedance at any single location of maximum exceedance can be accounted for by contributions from the regional background, urban background increment and local increment. This categorisation helps in the selection of possible measures for the improvement of air quality including implementation, responsibility and involvement of stakeholders. Ultimately, a description of possible measures is required.

✓ Previous plans and programmes that give details of measures or projects for air

quality improvement, including those which existed prior to Directive 2008/50/EC, should be reported and at which level of governance any measures were implemented; local, regional, national or international. Previously reported results can help quantify and qualify the impact of measures and inform decisions in future AQPs (see Section 7.3.1).

✓ Details of abatement measures and any associated projects adopted with a

view to reducing pollution should each be listed and described in an AQP with an accompanying timetable for implementation. An estimate of the improvement from the baseline scenario ensuing of the AQP is required with an expected timeframe required to attain these objectives. To evaluate any improvement the baseline scenario should be established using measured and/or modelled data. This will include concentrations at the locations of exceedance and will typically require model calculations in which the future development of the regional background level, the total background level and the local source contributions are considered (see Section 7.4).

✓ Any measures or projects planned or being researched for the long term need

to be included in detail.

✓ To assist in easier assimilation of material related to an AQP, a list of all publications, documents, and associated work should be provided.

AQPs may include also measures pursuant to Article 24, that relate to Short-Term Action Plans (see Section 7.3.2 - Proposed measures for the improvement of Air Quality and Appendix III).


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4.2 Suggested structure

In Figure 4 is reported the suggested structure of the Table of Content of a City Air Quality Plan. Figure 4 - The suggested Table of Content of an Air Quality Plan

Table of Contents of an Air Quality Plan

1.Background Analysis

1.1.Air Quality Assessment

1.2.Population Exposure and Health Effects

1.3.Emission Inventory

1.4.Other Pressure elements

1.5.Source apportionment

2.Air Quality Plan objectives

2.1.Exceedances Areas

2.2.Target Pollutants

2.3.Indicators

2.4.Period of reference

3.Proposed measures to improve air quality

3.1.Measures to improve air quality in relation to existing Plans and Measures

3.2.Possible measures for the improvement of air quality

4.Assessing effectiveness of possible measures

4.1.Air Quality impacts

4.2.Health impacts

4.3.Climate Change Impact

5.Selection and prioritizing measures

5.1.Cost-Effective Analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis or Multi-Objective Analysis

6.List and Comments of the Selected Measure

6.1.Tables or schemes with measures list and related info


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4.3 Integration with other Plans and Programmes

Directive 2016/2284/EU of 14 December 2016 of the European Parliament and of the

Council on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants,


Emissions Ceilings Directive - NECD’)

Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and

programmes on the environment (‘Strategic Environmental Assessment - SEA

Directive’)

Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of

certain public and private projects on the environment (‘Environmental Impact

Assessment - EIA Directive’)

Directive 2014/52/EU of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the

assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment

(‘EIA Directive - Amended’)

Air Quality Plans are the instruments through which Cities plan to adopt actions for reaching Air Quality objectives on their territory in co-operation with other authorities and economic sectors. By means of Cities AQPs local administrations could add to the overarching (regional and national) Air Quality planning instruments important local specific measures, that cannot be managed at a higher level of governance, counting on its peculiar tasks and powers. Some example of these measures are:

✓ traffic - e.g. with Low Emission Zones;

✓ residential heating plants - punctual controls, local regulation;

✓ protection of sensitive population groups - e.g. reduce exposure to traffic emissions for schools and hospitals;

✓ land use and urban planning - e.g. reduce traffic proximity exposure for new buildings with local urban planning instruments; increasing green areas.

In the meantime, a number of measures defined as ‘necessary to reach the targets’ during the elaboration of the city AQP cannot be solved solely at an urban level and should address different sectors whose enforcement and implementation could be of competence of overarching authorities, such as Metropolitan area or Agglomeration, Regions, Members Stater or EU (see also Appendix VI – Recommendations for Air Quality Planning on good policies, governance and practices). Anyway, all the measures included in the AQ Plan have to be in compliance with national Plans and Programmes and in agreement with neighbouring towns and zones or cross-boarding countries and in harmonization with their plans, in particular of those related to Air Quality.


15

In particular, in drafting Cities Air Quality Plans it is important the dialogue with the national level in compliance with the new National Emissions Ceilings (NEC) Directive (2016/2284/EU) entered into force on 31 December 2016, replacing earlier legislation (Directive 2001/81/EC). This Directive is designed to further reduce air pollution and its associated risks to the environment and human health (Art. 1) and includes for each Member State future emission reduction commitments for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions. Compliance with these commitments is also expected to contribute to achieving the Union’s long-term objective on air quality in line with the guidelines as set out under the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. Article 6 of the NEC Directive requires Member States to establish - by 1 April 2019 at the latest - an initial National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) which must be regularly updated, at least every four years. The content of the NAPCP is stipulated by the Article 6 and Annex III part 1 of the NEC Directive. In accordance with Article 6 (10) of the Directive, an Implementing Act laying down a common reporting format for NAPCP is going to be adopted. The Art. 6. of the NEC Directive requires that Member States when drawing up, adopting and implementing the NAPCP shall:

“(a) assess to what extent national emission sources are likely to have an impact on air quality in their territories and neighboring Member States ….;

(b) take account of the need to reduce air pollutant emissions for the purpose of

reaching compliance with air quality objectives in their territories and, where appropriate, in neighboring Member States”;

Above statements, among other things, mean that NAPCPs have to consider the assessed effectiveness of Air Quality Plans (Art. 23 of 2008/50/EC Directive) in being locally in compliance with EU limit values in 2020, 2025 and 2030 scenarios. The approach of the NEC Directive shows that ‘local point of view’ should be considered as important along the preparation of NAPCP. As the ‘right balance of action implementation’ among different decision levels it would be important to involve also local level decision makers in the process of stakeholder consultation along the NAPCP preparation as this would guarantee a better implementation of the actions themselves later on. Since each Member State should draw up, adopt and implement a NAPCP with a view to complying with its emission reduction commitments, and to contributing effectively to the achievement of the air quality objectives, it is expected that adopted NAPCP should contribute to the successful implementation of Air Quality Plans established under Article 23 of Directive 2008/50/EC.


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CITIES AIR QUALITY PLANS AND NATIONAL PROGRAMMES Republic of Croatia

Zagreb, Source: https://www.google.it/maps

Generally, in the Republic of Croatia, if in any given zone or agglomeration a level of

pollutants in the air exceed any limit or target value, in each of these cases an action

plan (Air Quality Plan) for improving the air quality for that zone or agglomeration has

to be adopted by local self-governance authority (City) in order to ensure, as soon as

possible, achievement of limit or target values.

The responsibility for Air Quality Plan draft development is given only to a legal

persons (expert institutes that has permit/licence to perform expert tasks of

development of strategic and action plan documents). Such permitting system is

regulated by Environment Protection Law and permit/licence is issued by Ministry of

Environment following an administrative procedure. Therefore, each local authority

has to implement a limited public procurement call aiming to ensure the Air Quality

Plan draft document development/drafting.

For the purpose of coordination of reporting on the AQP, a Working group was

established at the national level by the Croatian Agency on Environment and Nature,

since the Agency is the responsible institution for the e-reporting (Implementing

Decision 2011/850/EC) in Croatia. The members of the group are representatives of

cities that have adopted the AQP and representatives of the Agency and Ministry of

Environment and Energy.

Besides the Air Quality Plans, the representative body of the County and the City of

Zagreb (as regional authorities) and the big city (according to the national regulations

the big city is a local self-government unit that is at the same time the economic,

financial, cultural, health, transport and scientific centre of the wider part of the

county, with more than 35,000 inhabitants) shall adopt a Programme of air

protection, ozone layer, mitigation of climate change and adaptation to climate


17

change, which is an integral part of the environmental protection program for the

county, i.e. the City of Zagreb and the big city. The program shall be published in the

official gazette of the unit of local and regional self-government, depending on which

of its representative body it has been issued. Program shall be adopted for a period

of 5 years. A report on the program implementation has to be compiled each 4 years.

The Programme (regional and of the big city) and the Air Quality Plans must be

publicly available for obtaining opinions, suggestions and objections of the public,

citizens and relevant stakeholders, NGOs and other interested groups. Through the

media, the public is informed on the place where the documents are available and

the manner and timing for providing opinions, suggestions and objections. The

deadline for public to provide comments, suggestions and opinions may not be

shorter than 30 days from the date of publication. The body responsible for the

adoption of documents (County, big city or City) considers opinions, suggestions and

objections submitted by the public and assesses and decides on their justification. For

above mentioned documents the Strategic Environment Impact Assessment

procedure is not obligatory, since these documents are related to the field of air

quality (see also Section 3.3).

In 2015, the City of Zagreb developed and adopted its Air Quality Plan (see Appendix

IV for details), defined in format and content in accordance with national legislation

in which the provisions of 2008/50/EC Directive have been transposed. Besides own

measures, the Action Plan of City of Zagreb also supports the continuation of

implementation of measures from other city plans and programmes directed towards

air protection, promotion of energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources

and energy in the territory of the City of Zagreb such as the Programme of the City of

Zagreb for the protection of air, ozone layer, climate change adaptation and

mitigation and the Sustainable Energy Action Plan for the development of the City of

Zagreb (SEAP). Measures from the mentioned documents were defined in line with

the valid national programmes, out of which for the field of air protection the Plan for

the protection of air, ozone layer and climate change mitigation in the Republic of

Croatia for the 2013 - 2017 period (OG 139/13), should be mentioned.

In the following the list of the Air Quality Plans (in Cities) and Programmes (in Counties

and Big Cities) in Republic of Croatia is presented. The full reports are available on the

links:

http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/godizvrpt.htm?pid=0&t=4

http://www.eko.zagreb.hr/default.aspx?id=247

Air Quality Plans - CITIES

▪ Action plan for air quality improvement in the territory of the city of Zagreb ▪ Action plan for improvement of air quality for city of Slavonski Brod ▪ Action plan for NH3 emission reduction in city of Kutina ▪ Action plan for reduction of ozone levels for the city of Rijeka ▪ Action plan for emissions reduction of PM10 the city of Kutina ▪ Action plan for emission reduction of (PM10 ) in city of Osijek ▪ Action plan for emission reducing of PM10 in city of Sisak




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Programmes - COUNTIES AND BIG CITIES

▪ Program of air and ozone layer protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Zagreb

▪ Program of air and ozone layer protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation to climate change for Osijek - Baranja county

▪ Program of air and ozone layer protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation to climate change for Sibensko-Knin county

▪ Protection and improvement of air quality in the Zadar county

▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for the Osjek - Baranja county between 2010 - 2014

▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for Zagreb city between 2009-2012

▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for Kostrena municipality ▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for Primorsko-Goranska

county for the period 2009-2012 ▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for Varaždin county

between 2010-2013 ▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for Koprivničko-Križevačka

county between 2008 - 2012 ▪ Protection and air quality improvement program for split - Dalmatia county ▪ Air quality protection and improvement program for the city Sisak 2007 ▪ Air quality protection and improvement program for Zagreb county:

http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/datoteka?id=74073

References:

▪ Air Quality Legislation in Republic of Croatia:

http://www.mzoip.hr/en/environment/regulations-and-international-

treaties-ratified-or-signed-by-the-republic-of-croatia.html

http://www.mzoip.hr/en/environment/regulations-and-international-treaties-ratified-or-signed-by-the-republic-of-croatia.html



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NATIONAL AIR QUALITY COOPERATION PROGRAMME (NSL)

The Netherlands

The Hague, Source: The Netherlands - Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment

The National Air Quality Cooperation Programme (NSL) is a multilevel governance

action plan to improve the air quality of the Netherlands. Participants are the national

government, provinces, municipalities, and research institutes. All participants invest

capacity and resources in the measures that improve air quality. The NSL includes

large spatial projects that negatively impact the air quality - such as the construction

of housing or roads - and counters these effects with measures that improve the air

quality. The package of measures is created in such a way that the negative effects of

spatial developments are amply compensated.

The goal of the NSL is to meet the European limit values for particulate matter (PM10)

and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Measures such as cleaner public transport and

encouraging cycling as a means of transport, counterbalance the negative effects of

construction projects, so that the European standards will still be met. In order to

verify progress in the NSL programme participants conduct a yearly monitoring of the

air quality and others indicators, together with info on the implementation of

measures. This ‘Monitoring Tool’ of the NSL programme could bring to the

implementation of additional measures if needed.

References:

▪ Air Quality Policy and Regulation in The Netherlands:

https://rwsenvironment.eu/subjects/air/air-quality/

▪ Monitoring tool of the NSL Programme:

https://www.nsl-monitoring.nl



https://www.nsl-monitoring.nl/


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AQP WORKING GROUPS WITH ALL DIFFERENT LEVEL AUTHORITIES

Czech Republic

Prague, Source: https://www.prague.eu/

▪ Cooperation between all levels of governance

Air quality plan should involve all levels of air quality governance. The air

quality plan is usually perceived as a regional/local strategy while there are

numerous measures which need to be implemented in close co-operation

with the state level. To reach air quality goals it is necessary to ensure co-

operation especially with the state government that is empowered to

mitigate air pollution, for example from road vehicles. According to the

experience of the Czech Republic, it is useful to incorporate measures of the

air quality plan that can be done only at the state level into a ‘State

Governmental Resolution’ that is linked to the Air Quality Plan. This also

facilitates financing the implementation of the AQPs.

▪ Involving of all implementing bodies

Proper monitoring and co-operation between stakeholders in the

implementation phase should be also borne in mind when considering best

practices. The Czech Republic has introduced ‘special Working Groups’ that

are intended to discuss the Air Quality Plan agenda and to facilitate

coordination between the state and municipalities. The working groups were

established by the Czech Ministry of the Environment that is also responsible

for its administration. Working groups are attended by members of the Czech

ministries, regional municipalities and most polluted cities. Working groups

seems to be effective especially in terms of identifying barriers that hinder air

quality plan implementation and their solutions.


21

▪ Cross border co-operation

The Czech Republic has also introduced a ‘special Working Group’ to tackle

Czech-Polish cross border air pollution. This working group is attended by the

Czech and Polish environmental Ministries and border Regions. The working

group aims mainly at sharing newly introduced measures.

The focus is on inspiring each other, for example in creating subsidy

programmes and introducing stricter environmental law that will surely

contribute to decrease cross-border air pollution. Similar working groups

have been established also with Germany and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic considers that involving EU bodies more actively into

these discussions would be a great opportunity.

NATIONAL/CITY REGULATION FOR SOLID FUELS BURNING

Republic of Poland, City of Krakow

Krakow, Source: https://www.google.it/maps

In Poland there are serious air quality problems in cities and town, mainly in the

southern part.

Inadequate air quality is mainly caused by the emissions from the municipal and

housing sector (old boilers and poor quality of fuel). The non-compliance with the air

quality standards for fine dust PM10 and excessive concentration of benzo(a)pyrene

is caused mainly by this sector. Studies have shown that household stoves burning

bad quality coal and wood are responsible for over 50% of national PM10 emissions

and 88% of the reasons for exceeding the annual limit value of PM10; the rest being

the result of vehicle emissions and other sources.

For improvement of air quality in cities are crucial new regulations on the national

level, which tackle the problem of emissions from municipal and housing sector. First

is the ordinance of the Minister of Finance and Development, dated 1.08.2017

regarding solid fuel boilers, which only allows new boilers that meet the requirements


22

of 5th class according to EN 303-5:2012 standard from July 1, 2018. The second

regulation applies the quality of fuels allowed to be used in households (amendment

to the Act of August 25, 2006 on the fuel quality monitoring and control system was

adopted by Polish Parliament but still ordinance of the Minister of Energy is missing).

Air quality has been an issue for a long time in the city of Krakow and has inspired

grass-root initiatives such as the Krakow Smog Alert (Krakowski Alarm Smogowy).

Currently, Polish Smog Alert associates almost thirty grass-root organizations in Polish

cities and towns advocating for clean air.

In 2015 the president of Poland signed the amendment to the Environmental

Protection Act (Ustawa Antysmogowa), which gave regional and local self-

governments legal instruments to tackle this problem. Since then, several regions

have adopted anti-smog laws: Małopolska, Śląskie, Dolny Śląsk, Mazowsze, Opolskie,

Łódzkie, Wielkopolskie, Podkarpackie and Lubuskie. Other regions are expected to

adopt them in later time.

The common efforts of the Krakow Smog Alert, regional authorities and the Krakow

municipality have been instrumental in rising the general awareness of the

inhabitants through many initiatives and programmes, which promote better thermo-

modernisation of houses, better fuels and more effective stoves.

A unique contribution to stimulating clean air came from the LIFE Integrated Project

‘Implementation of Air Quality Plan for Małopolska Region - Małopolska in a healthy

atmosphere’, LIFE-IP MALOPOLSKA, a project coordinated by the regional authorities

of the Małopolska Region in co-operation with Silesian Region, the Krakow Smog

Alert, National Energy Conservation Agency, 55 municipalities and international

partners from Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belgium.

Implementation of the LIFE project allowed for establishing a network of 60 Eco-

managers to support the implementation of air quality actions at the municipal level,

trainings and workshops for local authorities and conducting information and

education campaigns at the regional and local level.

Regional Assembly of the Małopolska Region has adopted in 2016 a law banning in

Krakow coal and wood as heating fuels starting September 2019 (see Appendix V), a

radical measure for Poland.

The acceptance for these new laws by the city inhabitants would not be possible

without the long and active engagement of initiatives such as the ‘Krakow Smog

Alert’.

References:

▪ https://powietrze.malopolska.pl/en/life-project/

https://powietrze.malopolska.pl/en/life-project/


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4.4 Strategic Environmental Assessment

Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (‘Strategic Environmental Assessment - SEA Directive’) Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (‘Environmental Impact Assessment - EIA Directive’) Directive 2014/52/EU of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (‘EIA Directive - Amended’) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (‘Habitats Directive’)

Plans and programmes must be prepared or adopted by an authority (at national, regional or local level) as controlled by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions. Air Quality Plans are considered by several Countries, in national transposing of the Directive 2001/42/EC of 27 June 2001, among the Plans and Programmes that require a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) before approval. Anyway, legislative frameworks vary between Member States depending on their administrative structure and this affects the manner of transposing the SEA Directive. In Figure 5 the example of German legislation approach for SEA/EIA application for national Programmes, Plans and Projects is reported.

Figure 5 - SEA/EIA Field of application for Programmes, Plans and Projects in Germany (Federal German Act on EIA/SEA of 2011 - Annex 1 and 3)

Source: Reichter, 2015


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In general AQ plans at national and regional level require to perform a SEA process, meanwhile for cities Air Quality Plans SEA is not an obligation and is ‘case by case’ depending: the nature and the level of specification of measures included in the plans must be considered and the city administration would have to verify with its competent authorities if them fulfil with the criteria stated in Annex II of Dir. 2001/42/EC for which a SEA is needed (Screening).

SEA mechanism With the objective to “contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes with a view to promoting sustainable development” (Art. 1) the SEA Directive stipulates:

✓ the Screening requirements for determining whether a SEA is required (Annex II of Directive);

✓ the Scoping arrangements to identify the most significant effects of proposed plans and programmes that require a SEA;

✓ the preparation and submission of an Environmental Report that must be made available for Public consultation before the adoption of any plan or programme requiring a SEA.

There is no fixed delivery mechanism in the Directive, so individual Member States are at liberty to formulate their own SEA methodologies and procedures to achieve the objectives of the Directive. Anyway for better implementation of the SEA Directive, European Commission - DG ENV prepared a Guidance available, in different languages, at the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/sea-support.htm and also some Member States published Practical guides for the local implementation (see References).

SEA as a policy-aiding tool In Figure 6 the integration of SEA into planning or decision-making process is represented: it is clear that SEA can be considered as a policy-aiding assisting organisations, developers and authorities with the drafting and implementation of policy-making tools. The SEA procedure is initiated when Scoping and Environmental report are prepared with any significant effects on the environment and alternatives of the proposed plan or programme identified. The public and the environmental authorities are informed and consulted on the Draft Plan or programme and the Environmental report are reviewed on the basis of the received observations. Announcement of the Adoption of the Plan including summarized statement and forecasted monitoring measures close the process. The further step is Monitoring of the implementation of the Plan that must be done periodically.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/sea-support.htm


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Figure 6 - Integration of SEA into planning or decision making process in Germany (Federal German Act on EIA/SEA of 2011)

Source: Reichter, 2015

Benefits of the SEA The advantages to perform a SEA process could be considered as in follows:

✓ opportunity to take into account all the environmental effects of the plan and this brings easier to an ‘integrated approach’ between the AQ plan and, at least, the other environmental plans;

✓ having a prescribed process for Public Consultation that enhance the ‘transparency’ of the planning process and facilitate public participation in decision-making (this in general improve effectiveness of the AQ Plan - see also Section 4.2).

Who has to perform a SEA A SEA is mandatory for plans and programmes which set the framework for future development consent for projects listed in the EU Environmental Impact Assessment - EIA Directive (85/337/EC) (Annexes I and II) and those determined to require an assessment pursuant of the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EC) (Articles 6 and 7). The EU explicitly states that if any plans are closely associated, they can be coordinated and/or have joint procedures. A SEA is also mandatory for plans and programmes prepared for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste/ water management, telecommunications, tourism, town & country planning or land use. Member States in whose territory the plan or programme is being prepared that may affect other Member State(s) must consult the other Member State(s). On this issue the SEA Directive follows the general approach taken by the SEA Protocol to the UN ECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.


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Any plans or programmes which determine the use of small areas at local level or those which require minor modifications shall require an Environmental assessment only when the Member State determines that they are likely to have significant environmental effects. Screening is necessary for any type of plan, not already identified, to assess if any significant environmental effects are expected. The screening procedure is based on criteria set out in Annex II of the SEA Directive. As told previously SEA is not always required for AQPs at city level, however this decision should be made by the competent authorities on a case by case basis.

Cities Examples In London SEA implementation has been conferred to local council authorities but the screening process, for example in the Hackney Council, stated that the SEA procedure was not necessary why key policy objectives that could require a SEA had already been adopted by other strategies with completed SEAs (Box 2).

Box 2 - Example of screening process result for SEA on an Air Quality Plan14 in London - Hackney Council (UK)

Example of screening for SEA for AQ Plan

Hackney Council (UK)

Hackney Council produced an AQ Plan with three main policy actions:

Policy 1: Air Quality and development management such as ensuring that air quality is appropriately dealt with during the development control process.

Policy 2: Actions to improve air quality with the sole aim of reducing nitrogen dioxide levels and/or particulate matter levels within the borough such as promoting walking/cycling and Zero Emission Networks.

Policy 3: Actions to reduce the Council’s own impacts on air quality such as Promotion of airTEXT15 and campaign days to the most vulnerable, residents, businesses and visitors in the borough.

Under the SEA Directive Hackney Council initiated a screening process of the AQ Plan to determine if a SEA was required. A determination could not be made until three statutory consultation bodies were consulted:

✓ The Environment Agency

✓ Natural England

✓ English Heritage

On the 19th June 2014 the council decided a SEA was not necessary. The authority then published a statement setting out its decision (within 28 days of the determination). This is needed even if the authority determines that a SEA is not required, and the statement must include the relevant reasons. Hackney Council informed the public and consultation bodies of its decision via air pollution and consultation webpages for an appropriate period. It cited the key policy objectives that could require a SEA had already been adopted by other strategies with completed SEAs (these had no significant environmental effects arising from the objectives). This was supported by the response from the three statutory consultation bodies.

14 In UK Air Quality Plans are called ‘Air Quality Action Plans’ and follows in general the LAQM (Local Air Quality

Management) process 15 www.airtext.info/


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4.5 E-Reporting Format and Requirements

Decision 2011/850/EU Commission Implementing Decision of 12 December 2011 laying down rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the reciprocal exchange of information and reporting on ambient air quality (notified under document C(2011) 9068) (‘IPR Decision’): Art. 13; Annex II, Art. 5 Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (‘Ambient Air Quality Directive’ - AAQD) Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (‘INSPIRE Directive’)

Once an AQP has been initiated, the relevant level of governance is required to compile the mandatory elements detailed under Article 23 of the AAQD following Decision 2011/850/EU and with the help of the IPR Guidelines16. It is mandatory that information submitted for AQPs follow the procedure outlined in Article 5 of Decision 2011/850/EU: as data will be automatically processed by an electronic tool. The European Air Quality Portal17 contains technical details and services that facilitate the reporting of official air quality information from EU Member States and other EEA member and co-operating countries. This information is submitted according to Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and the rules for this exchange are set out in the Commission implementing decision 2011/850/EU. The portal (Figure 7) is maintained by the European Environment Agency (EEA) as part of the EU’s e-Reporting system. Figure 7 - The European Air Quality Portal website

16 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance1.pdf and

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance2.pdf 17 http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/



http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/


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The e-Reporting system, called ‘EIONET Plans and Programmes e-Reporting System’, is organized around 14 interconnected data flows which encompass the information necessary to meet the requirements of the Ambient Air Quality and IPR Directives (Box 3). A User Guide is available for this tool18. In generating data files for the e-Reporting system each country must follow standardized, INSPIRE compliant XML schemas. To support the generation of these XML reports, the JRC in Ispra have developed the e-Reporting System (PaPeRS)19 software, this software is hosted by the EEA. Air Quality Plans in XML format should be uploaded to the EEA’s EIONET Central Data Repository by authorised national representatives under data flows H, I, J and K of Annex II of Decision 2011/850/EU to include the mandatory elements of the AQP as listed pursuant to Article 23 of Directive 2008/50/EC in Section A of Annex XV. AQP specific categories refer to sections H to K:

- (H) includes geographical, administrative and chronological data with appropriate references.

- defines the pollutant(s) exceeded with attributable source apportionment of the pollutant(s) in question.

- (J) defines the baseline and projected scenarios for emissions, concentrations and exceedances.

- (K) describes the available measures, responsible authorities, impacts, costs and monitoring information.

References need to be included so the public can have access to regularly updated information on the implementation of the AQPs.

Box 3 - European Air Quality Portal Dataflow

Structure of the E-Reporting system

ROD Number is the category page on EIONET site (AQP data flows) - B Information on zones and agglomerations (Art. 6) - ROD 670 - B Preliminary (Year + 1) information on zones and agglomerations (Art. 6) – ROD 693 - C Information on the assessment regime (Art. 7) - ROD 671 - C Preliminary (Year + 1) information on the assessment regime (Art. 7) – ROD 694 - D Information on the assessment methods (Art. 8 and 9) – fixed and indicative

measurements - ROD 672 - D1b Information on the assessment methods (Art. 8 and 9) – models and objective

estimation – ROD 742 - E1a Information on primary validated assessment data - measurements (Art.10) -

ROD 673 - E1b Information on primary validated assessment data – modelled (Art. 10) – ROD

674 - E2a Information on primary up-to-date assessment data (UTD) – measurements

(Article 10) – data to be provided via ftp – ROD 675 - G Information on the attainment of environmental objectives (Art. 12) - ROD 679 - H Information on air quality plans (Art. 13) - ROD 680 - I Information on source apportionment (Art. 13) - ROD 681 - J Information on the scenario for the attainment year (Art. 13) – ROD 682 - K Information on measures (Art. 13 and 14) - ROD 683

18 http://aqportal.eionet.europa.eu/doc/UserGuide2_AQD-HK_XML_v1.pdf 19 http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/toolbox-for-e-reporting/pp-tool/

http://aqportal.eionet.europa.eu/doc/UserGuide2_AQD-HK_XML_v1.pdf

http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/toolbox-for-e-reporting/pp-tool/


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The Commission with extensive support from the Member States and the European Environment Agency has prepared the IPR Guideline to facilitate the implementation of Decision 2011/850/EC and resultant AQPs. The IPR Guidelines Part I20 provides descriptions of how to interpret and report the data required under Decision 2011/850/EC and IPR Guidelines Part II21 in a tabular format with implicit instructions on which data to submit and in which format e.g. specifying whether text or URL. Geospatial information regarding location of exceedances and subsequent plans are to be detailed under an INSPIRE option (Directive 2007/2/EC). Data submitted via the e-Reporting system is made publicly available through several online channels. This includes the Reporting Obligations Database (ROD), which is part of Reportnet, a group of web applications and processes developed by the EEA to support international environmental reporting. There are currently 149 Air Quality Plans officially submitted to the EIONET Reporting Obligations Database (ROD), and this includes national, regional and local AQPs from 22 different Member States. The EEA Air Data Explorer for Europe (AIDE)22 presents data submitted under data flows B to K, this covers all air quality related data including AQPs in an easily accessible format and are regularly updated with the latest information transmitted by Member States.23

Box 4 - Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) 24

INSPIRE - Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community

INSPIRE Directive aims to create a European Union spatial data infrastructure for the purposes of EU environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment.

✓ Based on the infrastructures for spatial information established and operated by the Member States of the European Union

✓ Enable the sharing of environmental spatial information among public sector organizations, facilitate public access to spatial information across Europe and assist in policy-making across boundaries.

✓ Addresses 34 spatial data themes needed for environmental applications with full implementation required by 2021.

20 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance1.pdf 21 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance2.pdf 22 http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/products/links-to-eea-website/aide-tables/ 23 aideh.apps.eea.europa.eu/ 24 https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/about-inspire/563


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5 HOW TO DEVELOP A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN

5.1 Process main steps

The development of an Air Quality Plan can be seen usefully divided in five main steps that can be shortly summarized as in follows (Figure 8).

1. Preparation

2. Elaboration

3. Adoption

4. Implementation

5. Monitoring, Reporting and Reviewing.

In the view of the achievement of the settled goals (i.e. attainment with EU limit values or target values) or maintenance of them it is important that the AQ plan process would be periodically monitored and the settled measures reviewed if necessary in a circular an iterative process of ‘continue improvement’ (Section 6.4). In this way the AQP could be and ‘effective’ and ‘live’ document for the City. Follow-up and Reporting to EU is required by legislation with specific tools and towards citizens and stakeholders (see Sections 6.4 and 4.5). In parallel to this process, fundamental elements are:

a. Citizen awareness raising

b. Public participation

c. Funding.

In fact, in the preparatory process and for a successful implementation of the AQP it is of a great importance the citizens awareness raising by means of informative campaigns (see Section 6.1), since the beginning of the process, in the Preparation phase or as soon as fundamental information are available from the ‘Assessment’ phase of the Elaboration process. Participation, that means stakeholder involvement and public consultation, is a fundamental element required also by legislation (see Section 6.2). Looking for funding the measures to be included in the plan would be a process that could start as soon as the list of possible measures is defined, building a specific Business Plan. Being the AQ plan development a time-consuming process, that also need specialized competences, it is possible to look for funding the developing phase of the AQ Plan that may need additional human resources, at the beginning of the process. Also specific monitoring instruments and software tools to perform the assessment of

5 -How to develop a City Air Quality Plan

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air quality or measures effectiveness evaluation in the elaboration phase of the AQ Plan would request specific economic resources to be assured at the beginning of the process. In Section 6.3 - Funding opportunities some guiding elements are given to obtain economic resources for the AQ Plan development and implementation together with some Good Practice examples, such as national funding for development of AQ Plans. Figure 8 - Process main steps for development and maintenance of a City Air Quality Plan

Source: Moroni S.


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5.2 Process checklist

Referring to the main steps of the AQ Plan process, in the followings a list with short description of the single actions that have to be put in practice is reported and can be used as a suggested checklist. In Figure 9 a graphic scheme for the process flow is represented, in which Process Macro Steps’s colors refer to Main Steps of Fig. 8.

1. PREPARATION

The main steps for the internal ‘start-up’ are:

a. Put Air Quality higher on the Municipal Agenda Ensuring a corporate approach with policy support and involvement of all different sectors of the Municipal Administration.

b. Identify stakeholders and key actors Planning their involvement at the beginning or in future steps. An example of external key actors can be Highways Authorities, Airport management board, Environmental Agencies.

c. Setting up an ‘Air Quality Plan Steering Group’ It would be fundamental to define at an early stage a group of administrative people responsible, also from different municipality departments, and technical experts who will work together with regular exchange of information and following a defined time plan to achieve the necessary objectives.

This approach makes it easier to identify measures implemented in different sectors and related to air quality, to consider more practicable actions, and to obtain higher engagement, at the end of the process, to implement the selected measures.

d. Review internal resources The success of the AQP is strictly related to the organizational capability of the competent offices, as the coordination of the different sectors of the administration involved is essential. Management and technical skills have to be defined and improved with additional specific human resources, as appropriate.

Also preparation for an awareness-raising campaign and for the adoption of some Air Quality friendly initiatives and procurement (e.g. low emissions municipal fleet, energy saving for public buildings) can be considered as good practices in the framework of the ‘start up’ phase.

Box 5 - Key elements in the Preparation phase of the AQP

PREPARATION Key elements

In term of internal organization:

✓ FIRM COMMITTMENT

✓ Coordination and Cooperation

✓ Dialogue between different Municipal Departments

and in term of external communication:

✓ LEAD BY EXAMPLE with AQ friendly public procurement and initiatives

✓ Start to create/raise citizen awareness on AQ issues.


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Figure 9 - Checklist of the Process flow

Source: Moroni S.

Internal start up Internal start up

Put Air Quality Higher on the Municipal Agenda

Identify Stakeholders and Key actors

Setting up an ‘Air Quality Plan Steering Group’

Review internal resources

Elaboration (Assessment) Define the problem extent (Assessment)AQ Monitoring, Dispersion Modelling up to population exposure/relevant receptors

Emission Inventory, Source Apportionment to define sources/city, other areas role

Assure Policies coordination and 'Integrated' planning approach

Lead By example Lead by example Adoption of Air Quality friendly procurement and initiatives

Citizen Awareness Public start-up Prepare a Citizens Awareness raising campaign on Air Quality

Elaboration (Targets definition) Define Targets of the Air Quality Plan

Define the indicative Deadline and Timeplan

Citizen Awareness Public start-up Start Citizens Awareness raising campaign on Air Quality

Elaboration (Measures and impact) Define effetcive Measures / Packages of Measures Draft

List possible measures

Impact assessment of measures (emix, air, health, external costs)

Budgeting

Practicability

Perception

Cost effectiveness analysis

Non air quality impact assessment (if SEA)

Elaboration (Prioritizing) Prioritizing measures

Define role city /other overarching Governance Authorities

Define role of different Municipal department

Define role/implication of different Stakeholders and Key actors

Screening with competent authorities if a SEA process is required

Funding Define Business plan and look for funding

Participation Stakeholder involvement Stakeholders dialogue

Dialogue with other Municipal Department

Dialogue with other different Stakeholders

Dialogue with overarching Governance Authorities

Verify Deadline and Timeplan

Public participation Public Consultation

AQP Draft for Consultation

Prepare a presentation of the AQP

Achievement of observation, review and answers

Elaboration (Refining) Define Final Set of Measures

Define Final Deadline and Timeplan

Define Roles and Responsability

Define Monitoring methods and Indicators

Elaboration (Delivery) AQP Delivery

Adoption AQP Adoption by the Council

Elaboration (E-reporting) AQP e-reporting to EU

Public information AQP dissemination

Implementation

Recognition for possible AQ Municipal Regulation

Elaboration of the AQ Municipal Regulation

Air Quality MUNICIPAL REGULATION approval

Obtaining funding for implementation

Involvement of Key Actors for implementation (citizens too)

Put in the field the settled AQP measures

Monitoring Periodic monitoring and reporting

Process Indicators update

Specific result Indicators update

Impact Indicators update (annual report)

Reporting Reporting process to EC and Public Reports to citizens/stakeholders

Reviewing Definition of corrective actions, new measures

PUBLIC PROCESS INTERNAL PROCESSPROCESS

MACRO STEPS

PROCESS

DETAILED STEPS

MONITORING,

REPORTING

AND REVIEWING

PARTICIPATION

FUNDING

PREPARATION

ELABORATION

ADOPTION

IMPLEMENTATION

CITIZEN AWARENESS


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2. ELABORATION

The elaboration of the AQ plan is influenced by the mandatory elements set in Directive 2008/50/EC (see also Section 4.1) a. Frame the problem (Assessment)

To define the nature of the pollution an assessment of current air quality has to be done by means of air quality monitoring or dispersion modelling up to the assessment of the effect on population exposure, in particular on relevant receptors. Emissions inventory and ‘source apportionment’ are techniques used to define most relevant sources and different area contribution (city / external areas).

b. Define Targets of the Air Quality Plan Assessing which are the objectives and purposes (achievement of compliance with in EU legislation, maintenance of AQ level, public health protection, etc.).

c. Define the indicative Deadline and Time plan It must be coherent with legislation requirement for which AQP must set out ‘appropriate measures’ to attain air quality limit values while keeping the period of exceedance ‘as short as possible’ but consider also time of implementation of measures and their practicability. In general a period of 12-24 months is forecasted, starting from decision to start/first actions (i.e. background analysis) to the Adoption of the AQP.

d. Define effective Measures / Packages of Draft Measures This is a result that can be obtained through the following steps:

- Inventory of existing and overarching Plans and programmes related to air quality

- Define list of possible measures for the improvement of AQ, also with benchmarking and learning from other cities’ experience

- Carry out local impact assessment of selected measures by means of modelling scenarios (in term of emissions, concentrations, human health and related external costs, if possible)

- Define the cost of measure implementation (budgeting) - Verify for technical, economic and political feasibility - Look for possible perception of the settled measures in the respective target

groups and act to improve it - Perform a Cost-benefit analysis considering also health effects and related

external cost of air pollution - Perform an impact assessment in the case that a SEA process is needed (See

point f.)

e. Prioritizing measures Select most effective measures or packages of measures, and for each one of them:

- Define role of city/other overarching governance authorities - Define role of different municipal departments - Define role/implication of different stakeholders and key actors.


35

f. Screening with competent authorities if a SEA process is required (see Section 4.4) In the ELABORATION phase the PARTICIPATION process (see Section 6.2) is crucial and consists of two fundamental elements. In the case of SEA process these elements are prescribed by the procedure, anyway the Directive 2008/50/EC asks for public information on AQ plans:

A. Stakeholder involvement - Dialogue with other municipal departments, other different stakeholders,

overarching governance authorities.

B. Public consultation - Prepare the final draft of the AQ Plan for consultation - Prepare a presentation of the AQP - Collect stakeholder views, review and follow up.

Having gathered practice elements and suggestions through the participation process, it is possible to: g. Define Final Set of Measures

with associated definition of: - Final deadline and time plan - Roles and responsibility - Monitoring methodology and indicators.

h. Air Quality Plan Delivery.

Box 6 - Key elements in Elaboration phase of the Air Quality Plan

ELABORATION Key elements

✓ Ensure policy coordination and integrated planning

Coordinating with other sectors of the administration in order to ensure and maintain

coherence between different sectorial policies (Climate change, Transport sector, Energy

sector, Agriculture, etc).

✓ Define Business plan and look for funding

Looking for funding for the development of the AQP and for its measures is a step that

could start at the beginning of the process and as soon as the list of ‘possible measures’ is

defined. The output is an appropriate Business plan for the implementation of the AQP.

✓ Carry out citizens awareness raising campaigns

It is fundamental to prepare and implement effective communication to increase

involvement and participation in AQ issues and in AQP motivation, targets and measures,

and also for promoting citizens’ support for AQP measures.


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3. ADOPTION

It is the formal act by which the local Council adopts the AQP.

Box 7 - Key elements in Adoption phase of the Air Quality Plan

ADOPTION Key elements

✓ Assure a political and public consent on AQ issues

✓ Make clear the need for the AQ Plan

✓ Create political and public consensus for the planned measures

After adoption, the steps are:

- E-reporting to EU

- AQP public dissemination

4. IMPLEMENTATION

According to Directive 2008/50/EC, in order to put in practice as soon as possible

effective measures that can contribute to the reduction of ambient air

concentrations and citizens exposure, the City administration can consider the

opportunity to elaborate and adopt a Municipal Regulation for those measures, that

are ready to be ‘implemented’. These are the main steps:

- Recognition for possible AQ Municipal Regulation

- Elaboration of the AQ Municipal Regulation

- Air Quality MUNICIPAL REGULATION approval

Other actions to be undertaken for the implementation of the settled measures are:

- Obtaining funding for implementation

- Involvement of Key Actors for implementation (citizens too).

5. MONITORING, REPORTING AND REVIEWING

a. Periodic monitoring process through the updating of different kind of Indicators

defined in the plan:

- Process Indicators update

- Specific result Indicators update

- Impact Indicators update (Annual report).

(see Section 6.4 for more details).

b. Reporting process to EC and Public Reports to citizens/stakeholders.

c. Reviewing process through definition of corrective actions or new measures,

with appropriate impact assessment and cost-effective analysis as during the

Elaboration of the plan process (‘circular process’).


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5.3 Key factors

There is not a one-fits-all recipe to develop an effective AQP and every consideration reported in this Chapter must be tailored to the specific local context. Anyway, the followings are considered key factors to develop a successful AQP: Box 8 - Key factors for successful development of Cities AQPs

AQ Plans GOVERNANCE Key success factors

1 ‘Participatory’ approach

2 'Integrated' policy, both horizontally and vertically

3 Consideration of health effects/external costs in prioritizing measures

4 Regular follow-up, Review and Reporting.

1. Participatory approach As a rule of better governance the ‘involvement’ of citizens, associations, and main stakeholders is needed, starting from the first steps of the planning of the AQP. In this Code this aspect is considered as a specific topic in Section 6.2. 2. ‘Integrated’ policy (both horizontally and vertically) One of the most important features that an AQP would have to be effective at is horizontal and vertical Integration: ‘Horizontal’ integration means dialogue and co-operation with different governmental functions of city administration whose activities can be related to the AQP such as: Transport Planning, Energy Use Management, Land Use planning, Sustainable Development and Environmental policies (Climate Change policies, Environmental Noise management, Waste management, etc.), Public Health protection programmes, Educational Sector programmes, Economic Strategy and Budget Department. ‘Vertical’ integration means dialogue and co-operation with higher levels of administration (metropolitan area, regions, National City council, national government) up to lobbing at international level for issues that cannot be solved directly at urban or at national level. To achieve a reasonable degree of ‘Integration’, one also needs to ensure ‘coherence’ and ‘complementarity’ with all activities defined in the AQP and those already included in other relevant Planning documents applicable to the City for different sectors (‘horizontal’ Plans complementarity) and with other strategic documents adopted at Regional, National and European level (‘vertical’ Plans complementarity). In this Code the specific topic ‘Integration with National, Regional, nearest cities’ AQP and Air Quality Strategies’ is dealt with in further details (see Section 4.3). 3. Consideration of health effects/external costs in the selection process for measures When selecting and prioritizing measures it is essential to consider health effects and


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related external costs. Even if this selection and prioritization may require a lot of human and economic resources, it helps to choose measures that maximize health benefits in term of public health, and to increase the acceptability of AQP measures by citizens (see Sections 7.1.2, 7.4.2. and 7.5). 4. Regular follow-up, Review and Reporting Regular follow-up, review and reporting are not only good practices in the AQP planning process, but a mandatory task required by legislation (see Sections 4.5 and 6.4). Based on experience, the binding nature of an air quality plan for all implementing bodies seems to be the key factor for a successful implementation. One of the most important aspect for a successful AQ plan is, in fact, a well-defined timetable for implementation of the settled air quality measures: this should not be underestimated, otherwise it will be very difficult to control the implementation process of the Air Quality Plan. In particular, it is important to determine a detailed timetable for progressive steps especially for long-term measures. The timetable should involve responsible bodies/persons for specific actions.

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6 HOW TO MANAGE AND IMPLEMENT A CITY AIR

QUALITY PLAN

6.1 Citizens Awareness

Despite the work carried out by EU institutions, by Member States, by many cities and

grass-roots movements in Europe, the general public is little engaged in air quality policy

initiatives and knowledge of the effects of poor air quality on health is not widely

available. Raising citizens’ awareness is key to increase public support for clean air

measures that can be included in a city Air Quality Plan.

Initiatives are currently underway in many cities across Europe to remedy the low

awareness. A survey with local authorities, carried out for bringing together inspiring

examples on communicating on air quality and health, found that many cities not only

provide basic information on air quality concentrations as required by law, but also

include specific health messaging or recommendations on how each individual can

contribute to clean air in their communication.

The reported examples of good practice in citizen awareness-raising could be a source

of inspiration for starting a communication campaign to increase acceptability of the

measures included in the Air Quality Plan and also to facilitate the implementation of

those directly depending on citizens’ behaviour (use of public transport, cycling, energy

saving, less use of solid fuel burning, etc.). This communication campaign would better

start at the beginning of the process of drafting the Air Quality Plan, as soon as

fundamental information are available from the ‘Assessment’ phase of the Elaboration

process. This campaign would be better accompanied with good practice examples lead

by the cities administration (e.g. green public procurement, energy saving for public

buildings, etc).

Some cities use negative messaging and warnings, e.g. smog/air pollution harms health

(Amsterdam), air pollution shortens your life (Stockholm), the air is bad, please watch

out (Katowice), etc. The city of Leerdam in the Netherlands stresses the long term

impact on health of air pollution.

People behavioural studies suggest that it would be better to appeal to positive feelings

in the health messaging, e.g. “clean air, our common good” (Warsaw), “respect the air,

it gives life” (Gydina). The city of Siewierz in Poland underlines the importance of clean

air for health with “you love children, don’t burn rubbish”. Some authorities also issue

positive messages such as “Let’s work together for clean air, even a small decision can

6 -How to manage and implement a City Air Quality Plan

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have big consequences for our health” (Warsaw), or stress the fact that “people will live

better with cleaner air” (Suchan).

6.1.1 Recommendations for air quality and health-friendly behaviour

Some cities connect health messages with recommendations on what to do: “not using

the car, but public transport, cycling” (e.g. Leerdam, Stockholm, Cluj-Napoca), “not

spending too much time outdoors“, or they have special communications for children

and/or the elderly.

Local authorities do stress how changes in people’s behaviour can lead to improved air

quality. For example, they stress that residents should not burn waste or inform about

how a house can be heated without polluting. In Antwerp, Belgium, local authorities give

tips and tricks around wood-burning, in addition to having put in place a range of

measures to improve air quality, such as a low emission zone for vehicles, additional

measures for the industry and the harbour. The city of Münster in Germany

communicates that “administrative measures and personal behaviour can significantly

improve air quality”.

In Zagreb, Croatia, City’ regulations, plans and programmes have been enacted at the

local and regional level to regulate measures and regulate air quality protection for the

purpose of preserving human health and quality of life. Plans and programmes are

available to the public on the website of the City of Zagreb (see Section 4.3) and point

out the need to use public transport, electrical, non-motorized forms of transport (hiking

and cycling transport), advise on the application of energy efficiency measures aimed at

the thermal protection of homes, the modernization of domestic combustion boilers

and boilers, the possibility of subsidizing the costs of procurement and installation of

renewable energy sources, promotion of the use of electric vehicles and vehicles of low

emissions (hybrid cars) and other.

In addition, many urban authorities work together with schools, the media,

environmental groups or health professionals to disseminate information on air quality.

Others organize special information session and events.

6.1.2 Citizens’ science projects

An increasing number of cities now run projects that involve citizens so as to raise their

awareness through engagement. Involving residents is a promising and inspiring way to

achieve buy-in and support for policy measures, and a number of cities which

participated in the survey use this (bottom-up) approach. Urban authorities also involve

residents through training, e.g. on clean air friendly heating or driving.


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Inspiring examples from Poland include:

✓ The city of Krakow organizes regular ecological outdoor events, and runs several

campaigns including ‘Together in the fight for clean air in Krakow’;

✓ The city of Poznan sponsored the ‘Kawka bis’ programme which funds

replacement of furnaces, boilers, and also ran a training programme on eco-

driving which trained over 1,600 people, or a programme to test heat losses in

houses;

✓ The city of Warsaw offers a mobile phone application to indicate where to plant

trees or consults with residents on anti-smog resolution, air protection program;

✓ The city of Otwock organized a prize competition;

✓ The city of Gydina offers training to show the correct technique of firing up

furnaces.

Likewise, citizens’ science on measuring air quality took or takes place in Dutch cities, including Amersfoort, Leerdam, Alkmaar, Zandstad, and Utrecht. At the end of 2017, the city of Duisburg, Germany launched its network for air quality, a citizens’ science project. Until then, the city had seven monitoring stations, run by the city environmental agency, covering an area of 233 square kilometres. City officials stated that this monitoring only gives a rough picture of the exposure to air pollution, and thus invited residents to build their own monitors to measure particulate matter. The city offers special workshops on how to assembly the air monitors. Cities therefore use a variety of tools to raise residents’ awareness, and many local authorities have seen positive impacts, including increased awareness, changes in people’s behaviour, support for clean air policy measures (even though sometimes it is not clear if this change was achieved because of awareness-raising efforts or because of a combination of other activities - communication, regulatory measures and even legal obligations).

6.1.3 Communication during pollution peaks

While poor air quality affects everybody, some people are more at risk from health harms from air pollution than others. These include those already ill, such as asthma patients, the elderly, children and pregnant women. Communication by local authorities to these sensitive groups varies greatly across Europe: some cities do not carry out a specific vulnerability communication at all, others, like the city of Utrecht, provide a special app service with recommendations on physical activity. The Polish cities of Pruskow and Katowice also run a special alert system. In view of the lack of knowledge and diversity of communication, guidance on harmonized communication to vulnerable groups is desirable.

6.1.4 Challenges in awareness raising

Cities try their best to communicate and raise awareness, but many challenges remain. These include barriers on the side of residents, for example lack of interest or low understanding of why a ‘policy and behavioural’ change is necessary, or also social inequalities that hamper air quality improvements. Stumbling blocks for greater


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awareness can also be found at the level of the urban authority itself, with financial and personnel resources missing, lack of co-operation between different departments or lack of political will for air quality measures. In addition, evaluation of awareness raising activities carried out is often not taking place or not comprehensively, which hampers the identification of activities and communications that have worked. For more details look at the report, developed by the Partnership for Air Quality on the Futurium website:

• HEAL, 2018, ‘Communicating on Air Quality and Health: Inspiring practices, challenges and tips. Toolkit’ Partnership Air Quality Action Plan, Action 5 Deliverable.

CITIZEN AWARENESS-CAMPAIGN

City of LONDON (UK) [8 546 761 inhabitants]

Example of the Mayor of London advertising campaign to raise awareness on air

quality and to promote the acceptability of a transport policy measure (‘T-Charge’,

see for more details Appendix V).

References

▪ Greater London Authority, 2017, T-Charge info campaign


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INFOGRAPHIC

City of AMSTERDAM (The Netherlands) [851 573 inhabitants]

Example of the Infographic used to represent the measures of the Clean Air Planning

in Amsterdam.

References

▪ City of Amsterdam, 2016: ‘Clean Air for Amsterdam: Set of Measures. Towards an emission-free 2025 Amsterdam’, February 2016

6.2 Participatory approach


on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (‘Ambient Air Quality Directive’-

AAQD): Art. 24 and 26; Annexes XV and XVI




participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC

(‘Public Participation Directive’ - PPD)


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Cities, Member States, or other relevant authorities that develop an AQP must ensure that the public as well as the relevant and competent organizations are properly and timely informed of the AQP preparation in order also to receive relevant inputs from third parties and then facilitate the implementation of the plan. The organizations to be consulted include, e.g. environmental and consumer organizations, organizations representing the interests of sensitive populations, other relevant health-care bodies, environment agencies and the relevant tertiary system and industrial federations, energy supplier associations or local/national transport authorities. The level of involvement from third parties varies between plans, depending on industrial activities, transport infrastructure and existing ordinances and regulations on each city. It also varies depending on the ambition level of the AQP and on which pollutants are being targeted. The EU Directive does not clarify what the requirement of properly and timely informing them about the preparation of the AQP means in practice. When Member States implement the Directive into their own legislation, this requirement needs to be clarified. Also the list of appropriate organizations to be consulted can be elaborated.

6.2.1 Stakeholders involvement

The main organizations and stakeholders are invited to actively take part in the preparation of the plan from start to end (e.g. workshops, seminars). If a previous AQP exists, it is evaluated in co-operation with the relevant actors implementing the plan and the results are used in the preparation of the new plan. In the final stakeholder consultation, the national authorities in charge of AQ issues are invited to give their comments as well as all authorities who deal with issues related to the AQP. All other relevant stakeholders are also given sufficient time to acquaint themselves with the plan and to give their opinions on it. The timeline for the consultation is at least 30 days.

Box 9 - Best Practices for stakeholder involvement in AQP

Best Practices for stakeholder involvement in AQP

✓ Key stakeholders are invited to actively participate in expert meetings and

workshops and to give their contributions in the preparation of the plan from

start to end

✓ If previous AQPs exist, their successes, failures and necessary changes are

evaluated in co-operation with key stakeholders and the results are drawn upon

in the preparation of the new plan.

✓ The final stakeholder consultation of the AQP is carried out at the same time as

the public consultation and the stakeholders are given at least 30 days to give

their comments.


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STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT

City of HELSINKI (Finland) [635 000 Inhabitants]

Helsinki, Photo credits: Paul Williams

In 2016 Helsinki city administration adopted the Air Quality Plan of the City of Helsinki 2017-2024 (see Appendix IV for details) in compliance with Directive 2008/50/EC. The planning process started with a kick-off seminar on air quality, which was held two years before the deadline for the adoption of the final plan. The seminar had a morning session with a keynote speaker from London as well as presentations of air quality in Helsinki and of the city’s existing AQP. In the afternoon session the stakeholders were divided into groups who worked on the 3 themes: traffic, street dust and wood burning. In the workshop the participants discussed the existing AQP and evaluated which measures had been successful and which not so successful as well as what was lacking from the plan and should be incorporated in the new plan. A main coordinator was in charge of the planning process with three assisting experts who worked on preparing the three different themes of the plan in co-operation with relevant stakeholders. The key organizations who were expected to implement the measures of the AQP were actively involved in the planning of the measures from the beginning. For each theme the first drafts of AQ measures were presented and worked upon at another workshop one year before the deadline of the plan. The drafts were also presented to the city’s Environment Committee, who was responsible for approving the final AQP. The responsibility for the preparation, implementation and follow up of the AQP was given to a working group led by the Environment Centre and to in an official AQ working group appointed by the Mayor. These two groups approved the draft of the AQP which was sent out for comments and public consultation by the Environment


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Committee about nine months before the deadline of the plan. The duration of the consultation was ca. 6 weeks. Comments were asked from 41 relevant organizations and authorities, of which 17 replied. On the basis of the received comments, the coordinator and assisting experts added two new measures to the plan and fine-tuned some of the measures. As required by Finnish legislation, the stakeholders and the public were informed of the final plan and of how the received comments and opinions had been taken into account. An interaction report containing a description of the consultation process and of the changes made to the plan was attached to the final AQP which was approved by the Environment Committee and published in the city’s webpage.

6.2.2 Public consultation

The public should be invited to actively contribute already in the early stages of the planning process. If appropriate, at least some of their suggestions should be incorporated in the plan. They could also urged to consider how they could improve air quality with their own actions. The public is informed of the consultation of the final AQP with a press release and an announcement on the website of the authority in charge of the preparation of the plan as well as with an announcement in at least one major local newspaper. When the Final AQP has been adopted, the public is informed of the final plan and of how the received comments and opinions have been taken into account. The interaction with the public and the resulting changes made in the plan are summarized in an interaction report which is attached to the AQP and published together with it. The plan is made available on the website and as paper copies in the premises of the authority in question as well as some other central venue (e.g. City hall). The duration of the public consultation should be at least 30 days.

Box 10 - Best practices for the public consultation of AQPs

Best Practices for the public consultation of AQPs

The public is invited to actively contribute already in the early stages of the planning process.

Information of the public of consultation is made available:

✓ on the website of the authority in charge of the plan

✓ in a press release by the authority in question

✓ in announcements in major local newspapers

✓ in different languages if needed.

The public is given at least 30 days to give their opinions to the plan.

The interaction with the public and the resulting changes made in the plan are summarized

in an ‘Interaction report’ attached to the final AQP.


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PUBLIC CONSULTATION

City of HELSINKI (Finland) [635 000 inhabitants]

Photo credits: City of Helsinki

In 2016 Helsinki city administration adopted the Air Quality Plan of the City of Helsinki 2017-2024 (see Appendix IV for details) in compliance with the Directive 2008/50/EC. A project coordinator was hired to engage the inhabitants already in the early stages of the planning process of the AQP, not only in the official consultation of the final plan. The process began with an air quality quiz with 10 questions about air quality. This quiz was advertised in the webpages and social media (FB, Twitter) by the city and different environmental and health organization. In the quiz people were invited to give their contact details if they wanted to be informed in the course of preparation of the plan. They were also given the contact details of the person in charge of the plan in case they wanted more information. The quiz was open for a month. It was specifically designed by media experts to attract people’s attention and make them aware of the issues of air quality. When the first sketches of AQ measures had been made, the public was given an opportunity to comment on them. There were three rounds of comments, one for each theme of the AQP. The commenting took place in digital form for about a month for each theme. The link was sent to the people who had given their contact details and to a few schools in Helsinki. The consultation was also advertised on the city’s webpage and in the social media. Commenting of the measures on traffic took place during the European mobility week and was advertised in mobility events. Comments for measures on wood burning were asked at the beginning of the heating season. The final draft of the AQP was out for comments for ca. six weeks on the city’s website and as paper copies in the City Hall and in the premises of the Environment Centre. The public consultation was announced in two major newspapers (one in Finnish and one in Swedish) and in the free Metro newspaper as well as in the official


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announcement board of the city. The major newspapers wrote articles about air quality in Helsinki and the AQP several times during the planning process. The interaction with the public and the resulting changes made in the AQP were summarized in an interaction report which was attached to the AQP and published with the plan. A brochure (in Finnish, Swedish and English) was also published containing information about air quality in Helsinki, what the city does to improve it and how people can improve air quality with their own actions.

6.3 Funding opportunities

The Partnership observed that dynamics of measures implementation of an Air Quality Plan are to a high degree influenced by the business plans of each individual competent authority, primarily their organizational capacities and the availability of necessary financial resources. Several EU and national funds are available to prepare and implement national, regional and local air pollution policies. However, an overall lack of specific programmes dedicated to funding of projects aimed at air pollution reduction has been observed, as funding of air quality improvement projects usually has to compete with other societal challenges. In addition, knowledge of the right procedures and conditions are required and procedures to acquire funding for clean air projects from EU funds could be considered difficult by local authorities. In the operational programmes (OPs) for the large funding mechanisms (i.e.: such as European Regional Development Fund - ERDF and Cohesion Funds), air quality tends to be considered as an integrated measure with other priority areas (e.g. energy, waste, nature) rather than being targeted solely through priorities for air quality improvement. This can be linked with the lack of funding available for regions to achieve abatement measures since air quality improvement may have not have been given priority in the OP’s earmarked budgets. It also appears that in some Member States the legal support for local experiments could be improved. Additionally, air quality policy is often treated as a stand-alone effort, where developments in economic activities, transport, agriculture and energy use are seen as given. Air quality policies becomes more effective when integrated to other policies, for examples decisions about implementation of common agricultural policy, the European transport network, or the EU-climate and energy policy. This increases the possibilities for synergies between policy areas or to include potential negative side effects for air pollution in an early stage of the policy development process. In this respect, cities are in demand for more possibilities to integrate existing EU/MS/regional funds for implementing air quality measures. The elements above combined notably determine a need for an increase in the relevant funding options for urban projects/plans to carry out air quality management solutions. This issue is particularly sensitive for those urban areas where the costs of local abatement measures for limit values compliance are remarkable, due to the fact that stronger measures and wider range of action have to be taken.


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Management authorities in each Member State decide about specific operational allocation of the available funds. Moreover, co-funding for innovative projects can be obtained from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, the LIFE-programme, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (the so-called Juncker Investment Plan), Horizon 2020 (e.g. the European Green Vehicles Initiative), the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) initiative, and the JPI Urban Europe. However, to tackle the problem described above the Partnership identified as necessary to carry out an assessment of funding needs for the sustainable design/implementation of Cities Air Quality Plans and to develop an appropriate business model to fund air quality measures, considering also the possibilities offered by the integration of different funding instruments (e.g. blending facilities). In Box 11 are reported the tools that the Partnership on Air Quality has developed in co-operation with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the framework of Action 3 (Better targeted funding for Air Quality) of the Partnership Action Plan.

Box 11 - Better funding tools for Cities Air Quality Plans developed by Partnership Air Quality and European Investment Bank

General Business Model for Air Quality Plan and Guidance for Cities Funding

The Partnership Air Quality in co-operation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), in the

framework of Action 3 (Better targeted funding for Air Quality) of the Partnership Action

Plan has developed:

• a General Business Model for funding Air Quality Plans

and

• A Guidance for Financing Air Quality Plans, addressed to cities and local authorities

These tools will be available by the end of 2018 on the Futurium Platform:


In the followings boxes some good practices are reported in relation to existent targeted

national funding available in some Member States to promoting the development and

adoption of Air Quality Plans and the implementation of related measures. Cities that

are developing and Air Quality Plan should look if a such kind of initiative, or similar, are

available in their own country before looking at other funding sources or in addition to

those.



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NATIONAL FUNDS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANS

Republic of Croatia

Source: www.fzoeu.hr

In the Republic of Croatia the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund was established in 2003 by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund Act (OG 107/03 and 144/12) and is the central place for collecting and investing extra budgetary resources in environmental and nature protection programs and projects, energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources. The activities of the Fund include activities related to the financing of the preparation, implementation and development of programs and projects and similar activities in the field of conservation, sustainable use, protection and improvement of the environment and in the area of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. By collecting extra-budgetary revenues according to the ‘polluter-pays’ principle in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations the above-mentioned activities of the Fund have been enabled. An overview of collected fees and revenues is as follows: sulphur oxide emissions expressed as sulphur dioxide charges; nitrogen oxides expressed as nitrogen dioxide charges; carbon dioxide emissions in environment charges; special annual fee on greenhouse gas emissions; the proceeds of sale on the auction of greenhouse gas emission units; compensation for environmental burden on non-hazardous industrial waste; environmental pollution charges for hazardous waste; a special environmental charge on motor vehicles; compensation to cover the costs of collecting, recovering, recovering and destroying controlled substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases; packaging waste management fee and reimbursement fee; handling fees for waste tires and vehicles; EE waste management fees, waste batteries and accumulators; fee; environmental benefit charges and others. The Fund allocates its funds in accordance with the Rulebook on the Conditions and Methods of assessing funds of the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency and the criteria and criteria for assessing the Fund's allocation requirements (OG 18/09, 42/12, 73/13, 29/14 and 155/14) which stipulates the


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conditions to be met by the beneficiaries of funds, the method of allocation of funds, and the criteria and criteria for assessing the Fund's allocation of funds. The Fund has co-financed the preparation of three out of six existing Air Quality Plans for local authorities (City of Kutina, Slavonski Brod and Rijeka) in the past period, since 2014. The financing principle was based on the national strategic document - Plan for the Air Protection, Ozone Layer and Mitigation of Climate Change in the Republic of Croatia for the Period 2013 to 2017 (Official Gazette 139/13), which states that the measure MGV - 2: Strengthening the capacity of local and regional self-government to prepare the Air Quality Improvement Action Plans, can also be co-financed with the Fund's resources. Funds for funding of the development of Air Quality Plans were generally planned by the annual financial plan of the Fund and the amount of funds that the Fund could approve was determined in accordance with the request of the beneficiary - local self-government unit self-government units (city), bat also in accordance with the Decision on classification of local and regional self-government units by degree of development (‘Official Gazette’ 158/13) and the Ordinance on the Conditions and Methods for Assigning the Funds to the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency, and Criteria and Measures for Assessing Fund Submissions (‘Official Gazette’ No. 18/09, 42/12, 73 / 13 and 29/14). An average amount of co-financing that cities can get from the Fund is 60% of the total cost of the Air Quality Plan development (while maximum 80% co-financing can be realized by the users from the group of regional self-government units whose value of development index is less than 75% of the average of the Republic of Croatia or the first group of local self-government units whose value of development index is less than 50%, in accordance with a special regulation). The procedure applied for the purpose of co-financing the Air Quality Plan is as follows: the potential beneficiary (City) when it has a legal obligation to adopt the Air Quality Plan submits a direct request to the Fund for co-financing (not through a public call) together with an estimation of costs for the Air Quality Plan development. If the funds are available in the allocation of the Fund budget, then the expert service of the Fund shall submit a proposal to the director of the Fund for the approval of funds in accordance with the Regulations on the Conditions and Methods for Assigning Funds to the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund and a Financing Decision. Based on the Financing Decision issued by the Fund, a City can start official public procurement procedure aiming to conclude a contract with a legal person (expert institute) licensed to carry out expert work on drafting plans and programs. After executing the work on AQP development a City claims for the reimbursement of real costs occurred.


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NATIONAL FUNDING FOR HUMAN RESOURCES IN AIR QUALITY PLANS

Czech Republic

Třebíč, Photo credits: https://traveltipytheculturetrip.com/30-of-the-most-beautiful-cities-and-towns-

in-the-europe/czech-republic/

Air quality plan development and implementation is a time-consuming process and need specialized human resources. In the Czech Republic, many local or even regional authorities lack financial and human resources that could be assigned to the Air Quality Plan agenda. The Czech Republic has therefore introduced a special national subsidy programme to cover those personal expenses and to enable municipalities to hire additional staff to ensure the implementation of AQP measures. One of the requirements of the national subsidy programme is that the municipality must create via the newly hired staff an ‘Action Plan’ that contains detailed and binding timetable for the air quality plan implementation from the cities perspective. The deadlines in the action plan must be met by the municipality otherwise the subsidy will be reduced. Municipalities are however capable to create the timetable according to their own specifications. Offering financial resources to support air quality plan agenda at the municipal level seems to be effective to some extent, at least for active and committed municipalities.


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The Polish government is fighting the problem of bad air quality in cities and regions by implementing a special programme entitled ‘Clean air’ (accepted by the Council of Ministers on the 25th of April 2017) and by utilizing funds from many different sources. On a national level, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOSiGW) plays a major role in the financing of a wide range of air quality measures. The basis of the National Fund’s operation is the Environmental Protection Law. Currently, the two main pillars of financing projects for the improvement of air quality in Poland are programmes and solutions that deal with the pollution caused by the housing sector (low energy efficiency, old boilers, low quality fuel) and transport (too many old cars in cities). Billions for energy efficiency in single family houses In Poland there are 5.5 million residential buildings, 90% of which are single family houses. Amongst them, 3.8 million are heated by coal, 1.5 million households use old boilers and most of them are ten or more years old. The financial programme of the NFOSiGW called ‘Clean air’ started in September 2018 with a budget of approximately 25 billion EUR (103 billion PLN). Within this programme, residents of single family houses can receive either grants (budget 15 billion EUR) or loans at low interest rates. It is the first programme in Poland and possibly in Europe which is addressed to the owners of single family houses on such a wide scale. It is estimated that over the next ten years - until 2029 - modernisation in about 3.5 million single family houses will be carried out which must include thermo-modernisation of the building with a possibility to use renewable energy sources (solar panels, photovoltaics). The second component of the programme is the replacement of older generation boilers for new efficient ones, or for a heat pump, etc. The level of co-financing for the project will depend on the income of the household. It is foreseen that the energy poor beneficiaries will receive grants totalling up to 90% of the value of the modernisation which means a maximum value of nearly 11, 500 EUR. Low Emission Transport Fund To address the problem of the poor air quality in cities caused by the transport sector, there will be invested from the national level approximately 2.4 billion EUR (10 billion PLN). In July 2018, the Low Emission Transport Fund was established in Poland. Since year 2027, approximately 1.6 billion EUR will be allocated to this Fund. Around one billion euros will come from the state budget. Additionally, from the resources of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management will be spend 0.8 billion EUR. In general, support under the Low Emission Transport Fund will be granted to initiatives related to the development of electro-mobility (e.g. vehicles powered by electricity) as well as transport based on alternative fuels, including CNG and LNG.


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The range of projects that can receive funding is very wide: amongst others, local governments investing in clean public transport, means of transport producers, bio-component manufacturers, as well as entities wishing to purchase new low-emission vehicles will be supported. Within the resources from the Fund, promotional and educational activities concerning the use of alternative fuels in transport will also be supported.

6.4 Monitoring, Reporting and Reviewing



AAQD): Chapter II, Section 1 (Art. 5, 6, 7 and 8) and Section 2 (Art. 9, 10 and 11) and

Annex III

Decision 2011/850/EU, Commission Implementing Decision of 12 December 2011

laying down rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council as regards the reciprocal exchange of information and

reporting on ambient air quality (‘IPR Directive’)

The success of the AQP is assessed through specific indicators defined in the AQP. Such indicators are used to monitor progress on implementation and the impact of the adopted plan on air quality. Regular analyses and evaluations from air quality monitoring stations data and other indexes will track the degree of progress in the implementation of the measures, and their impact on air quality. Monitoring success of target attainment will verify specific measure effectiveness. This can determine if the measures are performing sufficiently or whether additional or different measures are required. If the AQP has been adopted by a city as an update of previous plans, it has to include progress reports on the relevant measures introduced in the earlier plans. Timetables for continuing existing measures and implementing new measures are included in the plans as are estimates of the impact of the new measures on air quality. The impact of the measures has to be determined using modelling with varying degrees of detail. The European Commission monitors the implementation of EU legislation in Member States to ensure that laws achieve their intended objectives and that all countries of the EU respect the rules that have been agreed. The most common way of doing this is through reporting and monitoring defined as a set of reporting obligations within each Directive. Internal monitoring by Member States precedes submission of data and information to the Commission for analyses, this monitoring may be undertaken by competent authorities administered at different levels of governance, businesses or other stakeholders following the indication given by Directive 2011/850/EU and relative IPR Guidelines for e-reporting (see also Section 4.5 - E-Reporting and requirements).


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MONITORING INDICATORS

City of Madrid (Spain) [3 141 991 inhabitants]

Madrid adopted an original AQP for the

2011-2015 time frame, and more recently it

is implementing an AQP referred to as ‘Plan

A’. Monitoring of this plan is conducted by

an air quality commission and technical

committee and will hopefully include citizen

participation and the active involvement of

many municipal representatives from

departments such as town planning,

mobility and environmental outreach. To

monitor the Plan three types of indicators

have been established:

✓ Impact - associated with overall

objectives;

✓ Specific - assessing the real impact of

the actions carried out as a whole

✓ Process - evaluating the degree of

implementation of the measures.

Source:

https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_EducacionAmbiental/Catalogo/AirQ

ualityPlan2011-15.pdf

Monitoring of AQPs is specifically referred to in Annex II of the Commission Decision 2011/850/EU Part J in that an ‘Indicator for Monitoring Progress’ must be included. It is important that any monitoring and reporting should result in a clear, coordinated and coherent picture of the level of implementation of a certain piece of legislation and the ‘distance to target’ with regards to the objectives of this legislation. Monitoring needs to consider the objectives of the AQP and evidence needs to be collected to track its progress and performance, this will require understanding of the logic of the plan and how the evidence will be used. Resources are available for the authorities involved with implementing AQPs, such as the Commission’s Better Regulation Guidelines which provide key requirements for monitoring, i.e. to ‘establish monitoring arrangements and indicators that will generate the necessary information for subsequent evaluation of the performance of the AQP while minimizing data collection costs’.

https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_EducacionAmbiental/Catalogo/AirQualityPlan2011-15.pdf



56

MONITORING AND REPORTING ASSISTANCE

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the monitoring and reporting of AQAPs25 is assisted by the

Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with provision of

template versions of AQAPs to facilitate reporting to Local Air Quality Management

(LAQM) authorities.

Source: https://laqm.defra.gov.uk/action-planning/aqap-supporting-guidance.html

To monitor the success of AQAPs, additional templates are available for the review

and assessment of Air Quality Action Plans progress. Care should be taken when

adopting templated AQAPs in areas that may require a more comprehensive and

tailored plan.

To assist local authorities in AQAP establishment and review and assessment duties a

series of generic report templates are provided by Defra:

✓ Standard document template published by Defra to help local authorities

prepare their AQAP. Local authorities can supplement sections with any

additional information they feel is necessary.

✓ Local authorities may also find it useful to refer to existing good practice

examples of AQAPs as a starting point26.

To monitor progress of AQAP, assessment templates are available along with more

detailed updating and screening assessment report templates.

25 In UK the Air Quality Plan is called Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) and follows the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) 26 DEFRA, Action Planning: Good Practice website: http://laqm.defra.gov.uk/action-planning/good-practice.html

https://laqm.defra.gov.uk/action-planning/aqap-supporting-guidance.html

http://laqm.defra.gov.uk/action-planning/good-practice.html

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7 METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS FOR

ELABORATING A CITY AIR QUALITY PLAN













Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to ozone

in ambient air (notified under document number C(2004) 764)

This Section provides useful guidance and examples of good practices for the ‘elaboration phase’ of the Air Quality Plan, starting from the information required by legislation (listed in Section A of Annex XV of the Directive 2008/50/EC), including an overview of available state-of-the-art methodologies and tools in the different topics, and practical examples reported in current EU cities AQPs. The development of the AQP starts with a Background analysis that covers technical elements (pollutants not in compliance, main sources of pollution, contribution of local or outside the city emission sources) to define the AQP objectives (which pollutants must be reduced and according to which time plan). A first list of proposed measures to improve air quality have to be defined, considering also overarching AQPs and local means and possibilities. The assessment of planned measures effectiveness is fundamental for verifying the possibility of success of the AQP, i.e. to bring urban AQ in compliance the Directive 2008/50/EC. A cost-effective analysis would be performed in order to optimize the selection/combination of measures to maximize the impact of the AQP that could be extended to citizens’ health improvement and climate change mitigation. All these steps require the use of specific methodologies and tools (models) that should inform policy development.

7 -Methodologies and tools for elaborating a City Air Quality Plan

58

Some scientific working groups provide analysis and methodologies to evaluate and test the robustness of models applied in assessment of AQ and scenario mode to assess the impacts of AQPs. The Forum for Air quality Modelling in the European Union (FAIRMODE)27 is developing guidelines for models to be used for estimating which sources contribute to urban air quality (Source Apportionment) and to calculate the effectiveness of reducing emissions from certain sources. An interesting classification of methodologies and tools for assessing AQ and model scenarios has been proposed in the FP7 project APPRAISAL28 in which the DPSIR (Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, Responses) scheme - adopted by EEA for describing interaction between society and the environment – has been extended to the elaboration of AQPs (Guariso et al., 2016). As illustrated in Box 12, the main components of the DPSIR scheme for air quality are: pollutant human activities (Drivers), emissions (Pressure), concentrations (State), health, cost, ecosystems, climate change (Impacts), and selection of measures to improve air quality (Response). Box 12 - The DPSIR Framework Concept, adopted by EEA, applied to Air Quality in FP7 Appraisal Project

DPSIR Framework Concept for Air Quality

Concept helps to structure thinking about the interplay between air quality and

socioeconomic activities, supports in designing assessments, policy definition, identifying

indicators, and communicating results.

Source: Appraisal FP7 Project Layman’s report.

The APPRAISAL classification of tools considers three different ‘level of complexity’ to build the different modules of the DPSIR (from the easier, level-1, to the most complex,

27 FAIRMODE Group http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 28 APPRAISAL FP7 Project, http://appraisal-fp7.terraria.com/site/index.php

http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

http://appraisal-fp7.terraria.com/site/index.php


59

level-3). The Authority elaborating the AQP should consider the opportunity to use one instead of another basing on data available and cost-effectiveness of the different approaches.

7.1 Background analysis

7.1.1 Air Quality Assessment

The starting point in the elaboration phase of the AQP is the assessment of air quality that is the evaluation of the current situation and trends in term of concentrations of different pollutants. According to Section A - Annex XV of Dir. 2008/50/EC for areas of exceedance, the AQP has to report: 1. Localization of excess pollution

(a) region; (b) city (map); (c) measuring station (map, geographical coordinates).

2. General Information (a) type of zone (city, industrial or rural area); (b) estimate of the polluted area (km2) and of population exposed to the

pollution; […] 4. Nature of pollution

(a) concentrations observed over previous years (before the implementation of the improvement measures);

(b) concentrations measured since the beginning of the project; (c) techniques used for the assessment.

5. Origin of pollution (a) list of the main emission sources responsible for pollution (map); (b) total quantity of emissions from these sources (tonnes/year); (c) Information on pollution imported from other regions.

6. Analysis of the situation (a) details of those factors responsible for the exceedance (e.g. transport,

including cross-border transport, formation of secondary pollutant in the atmosphere);

(b) details of possible measures for the improvement of air quality.

Useful indication on how to fulfil the mandatory elements of the aforementioned Annex for AQPs is given by Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU (IPR Guidelines)29. For instance, the Decision states that for point (b) also indication in term of km of road can be given. The classification of an urban area given in (a) describes the location with respect to distribution and density of building and should distinguish it from suburban and rural areas. Urban areas are continuously built-up, meaning complete (or at least highly predominant) building-up of the street front side by

29http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance1.pdf and





60

buildings with at least two floors or large detached buildings with at least two floors30 (IPR Guidelines). Chapter II of Dir. 2008/50/EC gives legislative elements for the assessment of air quality: it shall be performed on the basis of fixed measurements that can be supplemented by modelling techniques and/or indicative measurements “to provide adequate information on the spatial distribution of the ambient air quality”, if pollutants concentrations exceed upper assessment threshold; different combination of techniques are requested with different AQ levels referring to assessment thresholds. In order to reach the level of detail needed to correctly describe the spatial variability of concentrations at urban level, in addition to measured concentrations, a geo-statistic interpolation method (at least) or a chain of air quality dispersion models, from supra-regional models to street-level ones, would be adopted for the air assessment (‘nesting’ techniques). Chemical Transport Models (CTM) that include also the chemical transformation of primary pollutant to secondary ones, are considered the most suitable in representing PM10, NO2 and O3 pollutants. These models use as input data meteorological models results and measures combined with emissions inventory data (see Section 7.1.3): a typical scheme of a CTM model is represented in the following Box related, as an example, to the AQP of the City of Madrid. These complex dispersion models could be used also for the assessment of measures effectiveness (see Section 7.4.1), but need important computational time, thus other simplified modelling techniques have been developed, such as Source-Receptor models, that try to answer to the question related to the origin of pollution and contain synthesis of local relationship between emissions and measured concentrations. Both CTM and source apportionment techniques can be used to assess the effectiveness of AQP measures, even if with different level of accuracy. The state of air quality described in term of concentrations for the different pollutants is the basic data used to assess population exposure, which is dealt with in Section 7.1.2 below. Tools used to define the origin of pollution are emissions inventory and source apportionment techniques, further developed in the dedicated Sections 7.1.3 and 7.1.4.

30 With the exception of city parks, large railway stations, urban motorways and motorway junctions, the built-up area is

not mixed with non-urbanised areas


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AIR QUALITY DATA NETWORK

Republic of Croatia

Croatian Air Quality network

Source: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/

Croatian Agency for Environment and Nature maintains the web Portal ‘Air quality in the Republic of Croatia’ (link: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/index.html) at which the measured air pollutant concentration levels obtained from the Croatian state network for permanent monitoring of air quality are shown (monitoring is carried out by the National Reference Laboratories, control is carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Energy) and from local networks (under the competence of counties, the City of Zagreb, cities and municipalities for which measurement is carried out by accredited testing laboratories). The portal also contains validated data on concentrations of pollutants in ambient air from the state and local networks, annual reports on air quality monitoring, database of air quality improvement action plans and air protection programmes. Air quality data is delivered through the reciprocal exchange network to EEA/EC via the e-reporting system. Users have access to statistical browsers, exceedances of limit and target values as well as trends. Data is displayed in tables and graphics, and can also be downloaded (services). By the end of 2018, modifications are planned to be carried out at the web portal ‘Air quality in the Republic of Croatia’ (link: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/index.html) due to the new European Air Quality Index. Measured pollutant concentrations in ambient air that are delivered to the portal in real time have in the previous period also been expressed in the form of an air quality index, which is similar to CACI, precisely so that air quality issues could be more easily understood by the public. References:

▪ Air quality in the Republic of Croatia - web portal: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/index.html

▪ Assessment of Air Quality in Croatia 2011-2015: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/datoteka?id=74786

▪ Annual reports on monitoring air quality in Croatia (national and local networks) 1999-2016: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/godizvrpt.htm?pid=0&t=0

http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/index.html






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AIR QUALITY MEASURED DATA

STRASBOURG Agglomeration (France) [470 000 inhabitants]

Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’Agglomeration Strasbourgeoise, 2015-2020 NO2 annual average concentration trend

PM10 annual average concentrations trend

References:

▪ Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’agglomeration strasbourgeoise, 2015-2020 http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-publiques/Environnement-prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-l-Atmosphere-de-l-agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA

http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-publiques/Environnement-prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-l-Atmosphere-de-l-agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA





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AIR QUALITY MAPS CHAMBÉRY Agglomeration (France) [121 590 inhabitants]

Plan local d’amélioration de la qualité de l’air sur le territoire de Chambéry Métropole PM10 non-attainment daily Limit Value episodes map in Chambéry Métropole:

Benzene concentration map in Chambéry Métropole:

References:

▪ Dreal, Rhone Alpes, 2015, Plan local d’amélioration de la qualité de l’air sur le territoire de Chambéry Métropole, Document soumis à la concertation, Version du 2. févr. 2015


64

7.1.2 Population exposure and health effects

In Section A of Annex XV, Dir. 2008/50/EC (point 2. General Information) (b) together with estimation of the polluted area (km2) or kilometres of road, the description of the ‘population exposed to the pollution’ is required. Furthermore (e) ‘sufficient information on the type of targets requiring protection on the zone’ is required. Considering that art. 23 states that an AQ Plan ‘may additionally include measures aimed at the protection of sensitive population groups, including children’ in background analysis would be included the exposure assessment to air pollutants for sites where most sensitive people stay or spend time, such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, sports centres, etc. A combination of monitored data and air quality dispersion modelling would help in defining the required information, together with topographic info related to the location of the sites to be protected. In AQPs drafting a good practice could be to perform a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for quantifying the impact of air pollution on citizens’ health both for short term and long-term exposure. This tool can be used in two several phases of the plan elaboration:

✓ the Assessment of the current situation (this Section). In Section A of Annex XV, Dir. 2008/50/EC (2. General Information) only the description of population exposure is required, but several Air Quality Plans report also the assessment of the current situation of air quality on citizens health in term of morbidity (hospital admissions, incidence chronic bronchitis, asthma symptoms) and mortality attributable to different pollutants;

✓ the evaluation of the health benefit of the possible measures in order help in the prioritizing phase and in the acceptability of the AQ plan (see Section 7.4.2.).

The modelling of the health effect could have different spatial resolution. Adopting a higher spatial resolution, it is possible to consider also the effects of local specific situation such as residence in the proximity to a major road and related health effects that ‘adds’ for the citizens to those due to exposure to regional/urban background pollutants. The APHEKOM project31 stated that in urban areas living near a major road (< 150 meters) can be responsible of an increase/onset of chronic diseases such as an increase from 15 to 30% in asthma in children (new cases) and also higher incidence of respiratory and cardio-vascular diseases in elders (> 65 years old) (Aphekom, 2012). In the framework of the Partnership on Air Quality a user-friendly tool has been developed to perform a HIA at cities level. For more details, literature references on HIA and the tool developed by the Partnership see Section 7.4.2.

31 APHEKOM (Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air Pollution and Health in Europe),

www.aphekom.org

http://www.aphekom.org/


65

POPULATION EXPOSURE


Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’Agglomeration Strasbourgeoise, 2015-2020

The map of concentration for different pollutants is obtained through air quality

dispersion models; by crossing these data with population distribution it is possible

to obtain the population exposure assessment to concentrations exceeding the EU

Limit and target values, e.g. for PM10 and NO2 as reported in the following.


66

AQP maps are furtherly produced to represent the exposure of schools, hospitals,

nursing homes, sports centres to the different not in compliance pollutants. Schools

and hospitals exposure to different NO2 concentration levels are reported in the

following example.

The number and percentage of different locations to be protected from air pollution

exposure are reported in a table referring to those situated in areas with non-

attainment of EU Limit values.

References:

▪ Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’agglomeration strasbourgeoise,

2015-2020

http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-publiques/Environnement-

prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-

de-l-Atmosphere-de-l-agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA





67

7.1.3 Emission inventory and projections

To understand the emission sources that need to be regulated with measures for

compliance with the targets of the Air Quality Plan, the following information are

required by Section A of Annex XV of the Directive 2008/50/EC:

5. Origin of pollution (d) list of the main emission sources responsible for pollution (map) (e) total quantity of emissions from these sources (tonnes/year)

(f) Information on pollution imported from other regions. The present paragraph deals with the methods and tools available to generate the requested info listed in the bullet point 5. (a) and (b) and also the scenarios assessment needed to manage the choice of the measures to be adopted, considering their impact on air quality as required at bullet point 8. (c) - estimate of the improvement of air quality planned and of the expected time required to attain these objectives. Emissions produced in different scenarios are, in the latter case, the input data for air quality modelling such as dispersion models (see Section 7.4.1). Emissions are one of the most important Pressure elements in the DPSIR concept model to assess the effect (Impact) on air quality (State) of different human activities (Drivers) and related policies (Responses). Emissions are evaluated starting with collection of human Activity data (or Drivers), multiplied for the specific Emission factor, that is expressed in term of gram or kg of emission in relation to the unit of activity (e.g. km for traffic, kWh for energy sector, etc) and would consider different fuel, technology adopted for pollutant abatement, age of source and so on:

Emissions = Emission Factor x Activity data

Emission sources must be categorized in coherence with the classification required by the e-reporting system (see Section 4.5). Emissions on the territory of competence can be assessed and modelled using the EMEP/EEA Guidebook (EMEP/EEA, 2016)32 a technical guidance for preparing national emission inventories, which provides detailed information and suggests approaches with different level of complexity (Tier levels). At urban level it is important to use all the geospatial information available in order to have a correct overview of the local emission situation and act where it is necessary to reduce AQ concentrations with benefit for population exposure. A ‘bottom-up’ approach in emission inventory at urban scale is desirable, as the disaggregation obtainable from the regional emission inventory (‘top-down’ approach) using proxies for several variables is not always representative for a city.

32 https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/emep-eea-guidebook-2016


68

In the following are explained examples, of methods that can be adopted for traffic emission modelling, being traffic generally one of the most important source at urban scale, considering the related impact for on citizens’ health (Aphekom, 2012). The tools to model emissions (both for the base case and policy scenarios) can vary between simple spreadsheet-models to the use of various kinds of geo-based traffic emission models. Traffic emission models can be less or more complex, depending on the spatial scale of approach (city area or street level), consideration of traffic patterns and if and how travellers’ behaviour is included. Traffic emission scenarios modelling would include a local extrapolation of trends in car use, fuels used, in modal split and in replacement pace of older vehicles by new ones. Furthermore, spatial traffic circulation features and changes in circulation patterns and schemes (Limited Traffic Zones, pedestrian areas, zero emission zones, etc.) must be considered for each scenario. An approach with a higher level of complexity would include behaviour of travellers, where the choice of travel modes and routes is driven by the desire to use the fastest or cheapest way to come from A to B. Such a model would enable to assess the impacts of investments in public transport, or in the use of economic instruments (such as road pricing or parking fees). For traffic emission, the EMEP/EEA Guidebook refers to the Computer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport (COPERT)33 emissions factors and methodology. Another source of emission factors for traffic, used in current AQPs, is the Handbook Emission Factors for Road Transport (HBEFA),34 which covers a wide variety of traffic situations. For non-traffic sources such as domestic heating, shipping, agriculture or industrial sources, projected emissions are related to a proxy (e.g. population, GDP or sectoral production) multiplied by an emission factor. The emission factor would ideally depend on the age of the installations and end-of-pipe abatement measures that are obliged. Future emissions projections for scenario impact assessment would consider data of the National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) that would be prepared by any Member State by April 2019, implementing the NEC - Directive35. At the same time, emission inventories compiled at urban level would improve the quality of regional and national emission inventory, reducing the level of their uncertainty. In the boxes below there are examples of good practices implemented in several cities for evaluating and representing emissions inventory and projections at urban level.

33 COPERT - COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport, www.emisia.com/copert 34 HBEFA - Handbook Emission Factors for Road Transport, http://www.hbefa.net 35 Dir. 2016/2284 of 14 December 2016.

http://www.emisia.com/copert

http://www.hbefa.net/


69

EMISSION INVENTORY

City of MADRID (Spain) [3 141 991 inhabitants]

Example for NOx emissions assessment results from the Madrid’s Emissions

Inventory

References:

▪ Madrid’s Air Quality Plan 2011-2015,

https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_Educacio

nAmbiental/Catalogo/AirQualityPlan2011-15.pdf




70

EMISSIONS SCENARIOS MAPS

City of BARCELONA (Spain) [1 620 809 inhabitants]

Emissions scenarios for NO2 and PM10: base case (left) and AQP scenario (right)

References:

▪ Plan to improve air quality in Barcelona 2015-2018,

https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/qualitataire/sites/default/files/pdfs/PMQ

AB_EN_2014.pdf

7.1.4 Source apportionment

Another fundamental step to prepare an AQP is the identification of main sources of pollution, both in terms of ‘geographical’ and ‘sectoral’ sources. Such information is essential to reply to questions like:

✓ How do urban sources contribute to the average concentrations? ✓ What is the contribution of sources outside the city?

and last but not least, ✓ What is the additional contribution of local sources to the air quality, i.e. traffic

along busy roads?

With source apportionment techniques it is possible to try and understand the link between air quality situation (or State) given in term of concentration measured (or obtained by model for a given area) and the sources (or Drive), whose contribution is given in term of emissions (Pressure).

https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/qualitataire/sites/default/files/pdfs/PMQAB_EN_2014.pdf



71

This knowledge is essential to identify the most effective possible measures for the AQP. To that end, the AAQD requires the following information: 5. Origin of pollution

(a) list of the main emission sources responsible for pollution (map) (b) total quantity of emissions from these sources (tonnes/year) (c) Information on pollution imported from other regions.

In particular, source apportionment techniques help in defining both information related to point (c) and the following: 6. Analysis of the situation

(a) details of those factors responsible for the exceedance (e.g. transport, including cross-border transport, formation of secondary pollutant in the atmosphere);

Considering a simplified approach, in Figure 10 a schematic representation of the contribution to urban concentrations of pollutants by source at different geographical scale is given: filled arrows represent urban increment and traffic hot-spot increments versus concentration attributable respectively to regional background and urban background. Figure 10 - Schematic representation of the contribution of different scale sources to urban concentrations of pollutants

Source: In Belis et al., 2014, modified from Lenschow et al., 2001

Figure 11 displays a cross West-East section of the German city of Cologne that shows the assessed spatial contribution of different local emission sources and of the regional background to city concentrations of PM10, starting from source apportionment techniques data. However, in the real world different geographical scale sources contributors are not so clearly separated and they can influence/contribute each other36. Therefore, referring to technical protocols defined by the FAIRMODE group37 and related Guidances 36,38 to

36 Thunis P., 2018, On the validity of the incremental approach to estimate the impact of cities on air quality, Atmospheric

Environment, Volume 173, January 2018, Pages 210-222 37 FAIRMODE Group http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 38 Belis C., et al. 2014, European Guide on Air pollution Source Apportionment with receptor models,

JRC, Report EUR 26080 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-32513-7, doi: 10.2788/9307

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13522310/173/supp/C



72

correctly assess the city contribution on local concentration on which define air quality planning strategies is a good practice. Figure 11 - Cross section West to East City of Cologne, DE

Source: U. Hartmann

Accurately determining emission source apportionment is important when an exceedance situation can be considered as an amalgamation of individual exceedances, which if comprised of similar source apportionment could be managed together as a macro exceedance (adopting measures on a sector and city area). Source apportionment must therefore be relevant to each individual exceedance situation and be applicable to the monitoring station or modelled location with the maximum exceedance situation. A useful computational tool, developed by Joint Research Centre of the European Commission is SHERPA (Screening for High Emission Reduction Potential on Air quality) that makes possible to rapidly explore geographical and sectorial sources of different pollutants and also provides simplified analysis for the assessment of efficacy of AQ measures (see Section 7.4.1). Using this computational tool, JRC developed an Atlas (JRC, 2017)39,40 where PM2.5 source allocation for 150 EU cities is quantified, referring to ‘urban background’ stations. In Figure 12 is possible to observe how can be different the role of cities emissions in respect to the overarching geographical level of action. In some contexts, it is particularly important to act locally. This is true in general for NO2 emissions, generated mainly by traffic in urban areas.

39 P. Thunis, B. Degraeuwe, E. Pisoni, M. Trombetti, E. Peduzzi, C.A. Belis, J. Wilson, E. Vignati, Urban PM2.5 Atlas - Air

Quality in European cities, EUR 28804 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2017, ISBN 978-92-

79-73876-0, doi:10.2760/336669, JRC108595

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/urban-pm25-atlas-air-quality-european-cities




73

Because of the non-linearity of the chemical formation of secondary PM this source apportionment does not always correspond with the effectiveness of measures. See in next figures examples of good practices implemented in several cities for source apportionment. Figure 12 - PM2.5 source apportionment based on the SHERPA tool for two large EU cities (Copenhagen and Berlin).

Source: Thunis et al., 2017


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SOURCE APPORTIONMENT


Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’Agglomeration Strasbourgeoise, 2015-

2020

NO2 concentrations source apportionment

PM10 concentrations source apportionment

References:


2015-2020 http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-

publiques/Environnement-prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-

technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-l-Atmosphere-de-l-

agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA






75

SOURCE APPORTIONMENT

City of BERLIN (Germany) [3 711 930 inhabitants]

Air Quality Plan for Berlin 2011-2017

For each street the contribution of different type of vehicles has been derived with

help of specific techniques.

References:

▪ Air Quality Plan for Berlin 2011-2017

https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/d

ownload/lrp_150310_en.pdf

7.1.5 Other pressure elements

Other pressure elements that can influence air quality levels in a given area, in a current situation and in scenarios, would have to be considered in the elaboration of the AQP. The main examples are listed in the following:

https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_150310_en.pdf



76

✓ Topography and orography of the territory can deeply influence its atmospheric dispersions capability (a closed basin surrounded by mountains or a deep valley would have lower dispersive conditions that an open flat land). At urban level height of buildings can influence local dispersion at microscale.

✓ Dispersion due to local meteorological situation or climate (e.g. wind field characteristic, precipitation regime or frequency of thermal inversions)41.

✓ Climate Change can have a deep impact on local climate current situation and forecast (i.e. IPCC RCP scenarios 42) with precipitation regime change, variability in dry periods, changing in synoptic circulation that can deeply influence high pressure regimes and consequent frequency of thermal inversion and related lower atmospheric dispersion capability.

Some of these elements have to be reported in the list of General information required by Section A Annex XV Dir. 2008/50/EC:

2. General Information […] (c) useful climatic data (d) Relevant data on topography

Figure 13 - Thermal inversion effect on air pollution dispersion features43

Source: Préfet de la Region de l’Ile-de-France, Préfet de Paris, 2013

41 An interesting source of information can be the COPERNICUS project website: http://www.copernicus.eu 42 http://www.ipcc.ch/ 43 Préfet de la Region de l’Ile-de-France, Préfet de Paris, 2013, Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphére pour l’Ile-de-France,

Revision approuvée le 25 mars 2013.

http://www.copernicus.eu/


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7.2 Air Quality Plan objectives

7.2.1 Exceedances Areas

Based on the AQ assessment (described in Section 7.1.1) it is possible to answer to the request of Section A - Annex XV of Dir. 2008/50/EC on localization of excess pollution. The assessment makes it possible to well identify compliance gaps with EU legislation standards for AQ and consequently act with AQP measures.

7.2.2 Target Pollutants

AQP targets pollutants are generally presented at the beginning of the AQP document as a consequence of the AQ assessment results (Section 7.1.1), and are those which, given a not-attainment, it is necessary to correct in the framework of the AQP for obtaining the full compliance of AQ limit and target values defined in AAQD (or the maintenance of compliance). For areas where these values are complied with, or to better protect most sensitive people from air pollution it would be a good practice to have as a further objective of the AQP, the achievement of WHO Guideline44 values for pollutants not aligned with them. In Europe at urban level the most common concern is the reduction of NO2

concentrations, mainly due to vehicular traffic. PM10 and PM2.5 are pollutants to be reduced in areas where lower quality fuels are still burned (e.g. coke in industrial plant, bio-mass burning for residential heating), sometimes accompanied by benzo(a)pyrene exceedances. PM10 and PM2.5 exceedances can be also be problems in areas with unfavourable dispersion conditions, where also secondary formation of PM is higher or in Northern countries, where exceedances in winter can be linked to the use of studded tire. O3 non-attainments are an issue, in summer, for Southern countries and have to be faced with a multilevel governance approach up to transboundary scale.

7.2.3 Indicators

The assessment of air quality for the area of interest of the AQP leads to the definition of which are the pollutant to be addressed with the plan’s measures (target pollutant). Indicators of the AQP that have to be defined for the management of the plan, particularly for the monitoring phase of the process (Section 6.4). It is important to include in the selection of indicators all the pollutants resulted not in compliance with EU legislation (or near the Limit or Target Values, in the case of AQP drafted for maintenance of air quality level) or WHO Guidelines for which the AQP is activated.

7.2.4 Period of reference

Usually AQP have a duration of about four, five years, during which they have to be monitored and updated, in order to achieve the compliance of Limit and Target Values or and/maintain/improve air quality level. The monitoring procedure is described in Section 6.4.

44 WHO, 2006: Air Quality Guidelines. Global Update 2005. Particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur

dioxide', http://www.euro.who.int, ISBN 92 890 2192 6


78

7.3 Measures to improve air quality



AAQD): Art. 23; Section A and Section B(3) of Annex XV

The first step in the analysis aiming at defining measures to improve air quality, is related to the listing of measures already planned or putted implemented by the local authority that could bring a reduction of ambient air quality concentrations, and the assessing of their impact (Section 7.3.1). In the consequent section of the AQP, the additional measures that can help to reduce concentration for the AQP target pollutants (Section 7.2.2) in the view of fulfilling AAQD or maintain/improve AQ level, must be described (Section 7.3.2). The list of proposed measures is then subject to the assessment of effectiveness in reducing concentration of the different target pollutants and related impact (Section 7.4).

7.3.1 Measures to improve air quality in relation to existing plans and

measures

As requested by Section A - Annex XV of Dir. 2008/50/EC the AQP must contain: 1. Details of those measures or projects for improvement which existed prior to 11 June 200845, i.e.:

(a) Local, regional, national, international measures; (b) observed effects of these measures.

In this section of the AQP a recognition of all the actions and measures already planned or implemented that could bring a reduction of the targeted pollutants in term of concentrations for the area of interest have to be reported. Thus, every kind of measure, plan or programme, also at overarching level, would have to be cited if considered of relevance for air quality of the territory. For city authorities, existing measures with effects related to air quality can be, for instance, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) or the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), to be cited and described with the related assessed impact on concentration levels. The sectors that those activities could influence on air quality in an urban area are numerous, thus in addition to mobility sector and energy one, also the following themes could be taken into consideration: urban planning, construction machinery, technologies testing for pollution abatement, awareness-raising of citizens on air pollution, improvement of AQ monitoring network, etc.

45 11 June 2008 is the date of entry into force of Dir. 2008/50/EC.


79

7.3.2 Proposed measures for the improvement of air quality



AAQD): Art. 23; Section A and Section B(3) of Annex XV

Dir. 2008/50/EC in Section A asks for: 6. Analysis of the situation

(a) details of those factors responsible for the exceedance (e.g. transport, including cross-border transport, formation of secondary pollutant in the atmosphere);

(b) details of possible measures for the improvement of air quality.

8. Details of those measures or project adopted with a view to reducing pollution following the entry into the force of this Directive: (a) Listing and description of all the measures set out in the project; (b) Timetable for implementation; (c) Estimate of the improvement of air quality planned and of the expected time

required to attain these objectives.

9. Detail of the measure or projects planned or being researched for the long term. Dir. 2008/50/EC in Section B (3), third bullet point46, lists a series of measures that can be taken as reference in the case of non-attainment situation for these two pollutants (nitrogen dioxide and benzene), which are here reported as useful examples and a starting point:

(a) Reduction of emissions from stationary sources by ensuring that polluting small and medium sized stationary combustion sources (including for biomass) are fitted with emission control equipment or replaced;

(b) Reduction of emissions from vehicles through retrofitting with emission control equipment. The use of economic incentives to accelerate take-up should be considered;

(c) Procurement by public authorities, in line with the handbook on environmental public procurement, of road vehicles, fuels and combustion equipment to reduce emissions, including the purchase of:

- new vehicles, including low emission vehicles; - cleaner vehicle transport services; - low emission stationary combustion sources; - low emission fuels for stationary and mobile sources;

(d) measures to limit transport emissions through traffic planning and management (including congestion pricing, differentiated parking fees, or other economic incentives; establishing low emission zones)

(e) measures to encourage a shift of transport towards less polluting modes; (f) ensuring that low emission fuels are used in small, medium and large scale

stationary sources and in mobile sources;

46 This point of the Annex is related to Postponement (Art. 22 of Dir. 2008/50/EC) cases but measures cited can be taken

as examples given by legislator.


80

(g) measures to reduce air pollution through the permit system under Directive 2008/1/EC, the national plans under Directive 2001/80/EC, and through the use of economic instruments such as taxes, charges or emission trading;

(h) where appropriate, measure to protect the health of children or other sensitive groups.

The Catalogue of Air Quality Measures47 supplied by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) is an internet-based resource providing useful information and examples of air quality measures. This tool, describing successful and unsuccessful measures, can be used as an interesting source of inspiration. Box 13 - European Commission Catalogue of Air Quality Measures

Catalogue of Air Quality Measures (online resource)

Provided by the Joint Research Centre for the European Commission

✓ Supports the implementation of the Air Quality Directive by providing a selected number of successful (best practice) and unsuccessful Air Quality measures.

✓ Database is intended for officials responsible for air quality assessment, planning and management on the national, regional and local level.

✓ Examples include successful measures such as traffic limitation schemes (Low Emission Zones, Congestion Charging, etc.), new vehicle technologies implementation, heating supply innovative regulatory strategies and unsuccessful ones.

In Appendix V of the present publication several examples of good practice, and sometime innovative, air quality measures are given (see Figure 14) as source of inspiration for urban authorities that are drafting their own AQP. In Appendix V some examples listed in the JRC Catalogue of Air Quality Measures are also described. In the following blue boxes, and in Section 7.6, some good practice examples in current AQP for presenting AQ measures are given. In the framework of the AQP elaboration, the development of an Air Quality Municipal Regulation could be a good practice with the scope to act timely on some intervention, with immediate improvement of air quality and shortening citizens’ exposure to exceedances (see Appendix V, City of Kraków example). AQPs may include ‘Short-Term Action Plan’ Measures that aim to address high pollution episodes (days or weeks) and to thus mitigate the effects of current or predicted exceedances of one or more Alert thresholds or one or more Limit values or Target values (see Section 3.1). Examples of measures that can be included in Short-Term Action Plan are given in the Art. 24 of Directive 2008/50/EC as in the follow:

- To control and suspend, where necessary, activities which contribute to the risk of the respective limit values/target values/alert thresholds being exceeded.

47 JRC Catalogue of Air Quality Measures http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/measure-catalogue/

http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/measure-catalogue/


81

- Those Plans may include measures in relation to motor-vehicle traffic, construction works, ships at berth, the use of industrial plants or products and domestic heating.

- Specific actions aiming at the protection of sensitive population groups, including children, may also be considered in the framework of those plans.

In the drawing up of such Short-Term Plans for Ozone non-attainment of Alert Threshold

(240 g/m3 measured or predicted for three consecutive hours) Member States shall comply with Decision 2004/279/EC concerning Guidance for implementation of Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to ozone in ambient air. An existing Guideline (see the Appendix II of this Code) showcases some examples of experience in measures/programmes implementation and effectiveness assessment (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, France and Greece) for Short-Term Action Plan.

Figure 14 - Air quality measures, examples of Good Practice given in the Appendix V

Air Quality measures – Good Practice examples

Here in the following, is reported the list of the AQ measures examples showed as

good practices in this publication (see Appendix V), divided by sector:

Transport

✓ Low Emission Zone - LEZ for trucks and cars, without individual exemptions

(Berlin)

✓ Congestion Charge - Road pricing to enter central area on weekdays to

reduce congestion (London)

✓ Toxicity Charge or T- Charge (London)

✓ Environmental bonus for buses cutting emissions (Helsinki)

✓ Cleaning public transport (Berlin)

✓ Buses retrofitting for NOx (Copenhagen)

✓ Cycling networks, Cycling Highways (Copenhagen/Groningen/London)

✓ Parking discount for Low-emission Vehicles (Helsinki)

✓ Smart Solar Charging for electric cars (Utrecht)

✓ Intensive street cleaning and dust binding to reduce re-suspension (Helsinki)

Construction

✓ Non-Road Mobile Machinery Low Emission Zone - NRMM LEZ (London)

✓ Particle Filters eco-label for construction machinery (Berlin)

Heating Supply

✓ Ban of solid fuels for household heating (Kraków)

✓ District heating mandatory for new buildings (Upper Austria)

Citizens awareness

✓ Air quality Alert websites (London, UK)

This list is obviously not exhaustive in showing good practices, but can be source of

inspiration for cities authorities to explore feasibility of some kind of measures in

their own territory to improve local air quality.


82

AIR QUALITY MEASURES LOCAL GUIDELINE

Republic of Croatia

Local city guidelines recommend implementation and development of

environmentally friendly transport systems in the territory of the City of Zagreb, or

rather all forms of mobility with lowest emissions and the lowest energy

consumption, promotion of clean best available technologies, energy efficient

building in the public and private sector, energy saving and rationalization of

consumption, ensuring conditions for modernisation and expansion of the city

network of measuring stations for continuous air quality monitoring, etc.

Based on these guidelines individual measures and activities have been defined in air

protection documents of the City of Zagreb by which, in a synergistic manner, sources

and reduction of emissions of main pollutants, such as NO2 and PM10 and PM2,5

particles should be addressed.

Through reduction of particle emission from households and road transport also

reduction in emissions of B(a)P expected to be achieved. For the reduction of ground-

level ozone pollution, local measures for reduction of O3 precursors (e.g. NOx, VOC)

are not sufficient, and action by the international community within the framework

of CLRTAP48 and the related Gothenburg protocol is required.

References:

▪ Annual reports on monitoring air quality in Croatia (national and local

networks) 1999-2016: http://iszz.azo.hr/iskzl/godizvrpt.htm?pid=0&t=0

48 CLRTAP - UNECE Convention on Long Transboundary Air Pollution

https://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/welcome.html.html


https://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/welcome.html.html


83

MEASURES BY SECTOR


References:

▪ Madrid’s Air Quality Plan 2011-2015:

https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_Educ

acionAmbiental/Catalogo/AirQualityPlan2011-15.pdf

PACKAGES OF TRAFFIC MEASURES


References:

▪ Air Quality Plan for Berlin 2011-2017,


ownload/lrp_150310_en



https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_150310_en



84

7.4 Assessing the effectiveness of measures








The Air Quality Directive requires to assess to what extent the measures included in the AQP would be effective in reaching compliance with the Air Quality Limit values or Target values within the defined time plan. In Section A of Annex XV point 8 (c) of AAQD is required:

8. Details of those measures or projects adopted with a view to reducing pollution following the entry in force of this Directive:

(a) Listing and description of all the measures set out in the project; (b) Timetable for implementation

(c) Estimate of the improvement of air quality planned and of the expected time required to attain these objectives.

Legislation asks only for air quality improvement assessment, but it is a good practice to implement a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and evaluate Climate change impact of the selected AQ measures. Some scientific working groups provide analysis and methodologies to evaluate and test the robustness of models applied in assessment of AQ and scenario mode to assess the impacts of AQPs. The Forum for Air quality Modelling in the European Union (FAIRMODE)49 is developing guidelines for models to be used for estimating which sources contribute to urban air quality (Source Apportionment) and to calculate the effectiveness of reducing emissions from certain sources.

49 FAIRMODE Group http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/



85

Figure 15 - The DPSIR Framework Concept, adopted by EEA, applied to Air Quality in FP7 Appraisal Project50 to explain the effectiveness of measures (Responses) assessment performed in an AQP.

Source: Appraisal FP7 Project Layman’s report

7.4.1 Air Quality impacts

For each measure, or group of measures, included in the Air Quality Plan, estimates of the impact on air quality have to be produced using modelling with the appropriate degree of detail. The input data for this AQ modelling are emissions (see next Box below) and meteorological data/model results assessed at the proper scale. The objective is to evaluate how emission changes reflect on concentration change in 1) different future scenarios with implementation of AQP measures, referring to 2) a baseline scenario, that usually is related to ’business as usual’ (BAU) emission projections or to scenarios that include effects of already planned measures, not related to the AQP. In this way one can reply to these questions:

✓ What happens to emissions and concentrations, when no extra local measures are taken?

✓ What will be the future ‘distance to target’ (the gap between projected concentrations and the air quality limit values or population exposure targets, e.g. the WHO Guidelines)?

✓ How many micrograms per cubic meter should be reduced at hot spots or for the average population exposure in a city or neighbourhood?

For estimating the impact of emission reductions, due to the selected possible measures of the AQP, on local concentrations, different tools can be used. For NO2, the simplest approach is to assume a linear relationship between the emission reduction from a certain source and the reduced contribution from that source to the average concentration in a city, neighbourhood or street. For the impact on the city level and street increment more advanced ‘gaussian’ and ‘street canyon’ models can be applied. Such models assume certain mixing parameters that take into account traffic density, the shape of the street and the presence of trees (trees could lead to an

50 APPRAISAL FP7 Project, http://appraisal-fp7.terraria.com/site/index.php

http://appraisal-fp7.terraria.com/site/index.php


86

accumulation of pollution under the tree crown). Some models take into account the chemical process that converts NO-emissions into NO2-concentrations. To assess the impact of measures on the city background level, more complex atmospheric models will be needed that include meteorology and chemical reactions, such as the formation of secondary particles or ozone. These models are the Chemical Transport Models, which can be used for urban background pollution estimation. For PM10 (and PM2.5), modelling can be more complex, because the contribution of local sources (such as traffic) can be substantially less than for NO2. Traffic contributes to primary PM-emissions via abrasion of tyres, brakes and roads, and via tailpipe emissions of soot (the latter contribution is rapidly declining due to the introduction of the diesel particle filter - DPF). The contribution from domestic burning of wood or other solid fuels is significant in some cities. In regions with high densities of traffic, industry and livestock, secondary particles (ammonium-nitrate, ammonium-sulphate) create a ‘blanket’ of high PM2.5 concentrations over a large area, which diminishes the possibility of city authorities to substantially reduce PM2.5 concentrations. For the assessment of the reduction of PM10 or PM2.5 concentrations it is important to take sources outside the city and the formation of secondary particles into account. In this case, the use of the Chemical Transport Model is suggested (also regional applications of the EMEP-model, the CHIMERE model and the Lotos-Euros-model could be considered). Alternative approaches are available, such as RIAT+51 and SHERPA52. Results of the AQ modelling are the bases of the Health Impact Assessment (Section 7.4.2). They can help improve the selection and prioritizing measures (see Section 7.5) and increase the impact in communicating the AQP. See in next boxes examples of good practices implemented in several cities for assessing impact of measures in term of emission and concentrations at city/street level. Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality future scenarios Climate change in many EU areas is making worse air pollution problems, by means of changing in synoptic circulation that can strongly affect local weather with not so positive future scenarios: reduced yearly amount of precipitations, increasing heat waves in summer and stagnant atmosphere periods in winter. All these phenomena would have changes in frequency, duration and intensity with consequence that in general means higher concentration levels of ground level Ozone in summer or higher trapping of pollutants during stagnant or dry periods. These factors have to be considered by appropriate modelling tools during the assessment for effectiveness of AQ Plan measures in future scenarios. Obviously, it would be a good practice to consider the worst global climate scenario following the precautionary principle and referring to the official reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)53.

51 RIAT+ http://www.riatplus.eu/html/eng/home.html 52 SHERPA tool: http://aqm.jrc.ec.europa.eu/sherpa.aspx 53 Climate Change 2014. Mitigation of Climate Change. Working Group III - Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report

of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/

http://www.riatplus.eu/html/eng/home.html

http://aqm.jrc.ec.europa.eu/sherpa.aspx

http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/


87

AIR QUALITY IMPACT (Emissions)


Emission reduction for different group of measures scenarios for vehicular traffic (see

description Section 7.3.2)

Emission reduction for different measures scenarios for no-traffic sources

References:







88

AIR QUALITY DISPERSION MODELS City of MADRID (Spain) [3 141 991 inhabitants]

Scheme of the Chemical Transport Model (CTM) used for City of Madrid’s AQP

References: Madrid’s Air Quality Plan 2011-2015,

https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_EducacionAmbie

ntal/Catalogo/AirQualityPlan2011-15.pdf

AIR QUALITY DISPERSION MODEL SCHEME City of BERLIN (Germany) [3 711 930 inhabitants]

Air quality dispersion model nesting: spatial distribution and resolution used for AQ

planning in Berlin

References: Air Quality Plan for Berlin 2011-2017,

https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download

/lrp_150310_en






89

AIR QUALITY SCENARIOS MAPS

City of BARCELONA (Spain) [1 620 809 inhabitants]

Different Emissions sources maps considered as input for Air Quality scenarios maps

Air Quality scenarios for NO2 and PM10 concentrations: base case (left) and AQP

scenario (right)

References:


https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/qualitataire/sites/default/files/pdfs/PMQ

AB_EN_2014.pdf




90

AIR QUALITY IMPACT MAPS


In Berlin AQP the effect on the individual road sections is shown in the

Environmental Atlas [Umweltatlas] under the topic Air [Luft]:

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/dinh_03.htm

References:








91

7.4.2 Health impacts

To assess the health benefit of the possible measures and help prioritizing, making a

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) during the elaboration of the AQP is a good practice.

The HIA is also useful to create acceptance of interventions that are being experienced

to be ‘inconvenient’ for some citizens, such as Low Emission Zones (LEZ), biomass

burning restrictions or new building area rules. Using HIA tools, and thus being able to

communicate the public health risks associated with different scenarios, raises public

awareness with scientific evidence.

In order to make HIA approachable several tools or models have been developed. Input

data of HIA tools are:

1. Concentration levels of air pollutants

2. Exposed population and its characteristics

3. Health outcome baseline incidences.

The first step of a HIA is to estimate the exposure of the target population. A

combination of air quality monitoring data and air quality modelling is often used to

estimate the exposure for a population and to predict changes in exposure in different

policy scenarios.

The second step is to estimate the health risk associated with the exposure to air

pollution. This requires Concentrations-Response Functions (CRF) defined with scientific

evidence in epidemiological studies that are locally dependent. Results of HIA are usually

reported in terms of mortality (e.g. number of premature deaths, change in life

expectancy or the number of life years lost -YLL) and morbidity (e.g. asthma, lung cancer,

working days lost, etc.) on short term and long term. Morbidity and mortality effects can

be aggregated into the loss of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY).

The third step is to quantify and express the uncertainty of the estimated health

impact.

In the following, three different levels of complexity for quantifying the health impact of

air pollution are showed; spatial resolution is a factor to be considered when selecting

the approach:

1. It is possible to make reference to the AirQ+ tool, which is developed by the

WHO Regional Office for Europe. It can handle the following pollutants: PM2.5,

PM10, NO2, O3 and black carbon (BC). AirQ+ includes methodologies to assess

the effects of long-term and short-term exposure to ambient air pollution.

Various health outcomes related to mortality and morbidity, both in terms of

acute and chronic conditions can be considered for the calculations. Health

outcomes are expressed as: attributable proportion of cases, number of

attributable cases, number of attributable cases per 100.000 population at risk,


92

proportion of cases in each category of air pollutant, and cumulative distribution

by air pollutant concentration, Years of Life Lost (YLL).

2. This level can be represented by the tool developed by the Public Health

Services of Amsterdam and Arnhem (Zuurbier et al., 2014) based on relative

risks from the WHO-HRAPIE Report (2013) (minimum population size 50,000).

This tool can handle the following pollutants: PM10, PM2.5, NO2 and Elemental

Carbon (EC). Health outcomes are expressed as: YLL due to mortality (Miller and

Hurley, 2006), Hospital admission and DALY’s. Estimated YLL and Hospital

admission can be calculated per subject or in an easier method for the whole

population. However, estimated health effects per person take into account the

distribution of exposure within the population.

3. This level can be represented by the approach used in the APHEKOM Project54

(Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air Pollution

and Health in Europe), that performed a HIA in 25 EU cities. In the cities studied,

Aphekom HIA approach showed that living near busy roads (> 10,000 or more

vehicles per day) could be responsible for some 15-30 percent of all new cases

of asthma in children; and of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and

CHD (coronary heart disease) in adults 65 years of age and older (Figure 16).

Figure 16 - Percentage of population with chronic diseases whose disease could be attributed to living near busy streets and roads in 10 APHEKOM project cities

Source: APHEKOM, 2012

In order to perform a cost-benefit analysis of measures (see Section 7.5) a monetary evaluation of health impacts (expressed in euros) is needed. Elements for this evaluation

54 APHEKOM (Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air Pollution and Health in Europe),

www.aphekom.org

http://www.aphekom.org/


93

can be derived from European studies (such as the ExternE-study)55 and corrected for differences GDP per capita in a country (or city). The Partnership of Air Quality developed a tool ‘PAQ2018’ which can be used by European cities to estimate health effects from air pollution in their cities56. This tool is a combination of two existing tools namely AirQ+ (developed by the WHO) and the tool developed by the Public Health Services of Amsterdam and Arnhem (GGD tool). The strengths of these tools have been combined in order to make HIA approachable for municipalities of European cities in particular. The strengths of this tool are the pragmatic usability, its rich model output and its capability of conducting many analyses at once after which all the results become visible at a glance. Compared to the AirQ+ and GGD tool, the output has been extended with DALYs and a monetary value of the health impact. Besides, with the PAQ2018 tool it is possible to calculate the health profit or loss of two different pollution scenarios. Box 14 - HIA tool developed by the Partnership on Air Quality

Health Impact Assessment tool (PAQ 2018) and Report

The Partnership Air Quality, in cooperation with City and University of Utrecht, in the

framework of Action 4 (Better Focus on the Protection and on the Improvement of Citizens’

Health) developed, after an analysis of existent ones, a new tool for HIA:

• PAQ 2018.

This tool (spreadsheet), is available, together with instruction for use, on the Futurium

Platform: https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/air-quality

A Report titled

• ‘The use of Health Impact Assessment tools in European cities’ (Van de Brenk, 2018)

is the result of the performed analysis of existent tools and presentation of the PAQ2018.

55 ExternE: http://www.externe.info/externe_d7/ 56 Van den Brenk, I., 2018: The Use of Health Assessment Impact Tools in European cities. A guide to support policy

towards cleaner air and improvement of citizens’ health. Urban Agenda - Partnership on Air Quality, Action 4 Deliverable, November 2018


http://www.externe.info/externe_d7/


94

AIR QUALITY IMPACT ON POPULATION


Air Quality scenarios for PM10 and NO2 concentrations in term of length of road

segments and number of residents affected by exceeding limits levels in the trend

development and given implementation of the package of measures for 2015 (see

description on Section 7.3.2).

NO2

PM10

The Figures above are derived by modelling at streets levels for NO2, PM10 and Soot

concentrations.

References:







95

AIR QUALITY IMPACT ON POPULATION City of UTRECHT (The Netherlands) [344 384 inhabitants]

In the following example of use of WHO - Air Q+ tool to assess the health impact of air pollution on a concept city of 300.000 citizens and 100 km2 in the Netherlands is reported. The question to be addressed is: how many deaths are attributable to long-term exposure to different ambient levels of PM2.5?

Impact Evaluation Long-term effects of Ambient Air Pollution (PM2.5)

City of 300.000 citizens,

Cut-off value = 5 µg/m3 Ambient levels PM2.5

Mortality, all (natural) causes (adults age 30+ years)

10 µg/m3

15 µg/m3

20 µg/m3

25 µg/m3

Estimated Attributable Proportion 2.96 5.84 8.63 11.34

Estimated # of Attributable Cases 90 176 261 343

Estimated # of Attributable Cases per 100 000 45.93 90.49 133.73 175.70

Mortality due to acute lower respiratory infection for children (0-5 years)

10

µg/m3 15

µg/m3 20

µg/m3 25

µg/m3




Mortality due to COPD for adults (30+ years)

10 µg/m3

15 µg/m3

20 µg/m3

25 µg/m3




Mortality due to lung cancer for adults (30+ years)

10 µg/m3

15 µg/m3

20 µg/m3

25 µg/m3




Mortality due to ischemic heart disease for adults (25+ years)

10 µg/m3

15 µg/m3

20 µg/m3

25 µg/m3




Mortality due to Stroke for adults (25+ years)

10 µg/m3

15 µg/m3

20 µg/m3

25 µg/m3



Estimated # of Attributable Cases per 100 000 10.27 18.65 24.38 28.68 Source: City of Utrecht, University of Utrecht, 2018


96

7.4.3 Climate change impact

Co-benefit of Air Quality measures on Climate Change mitigation policies

The reduction of ambient concentration of several pollutants due to measures adopted in an AQP can not only have a positive effect at local level in terms of human health, but also contribute to tackle climate change issues thus achieving important co-benefits at global level. Any AQ measure focused on reduction or ban in use of fossil fuels has a positive impact for reduction of CO2 emissions and thus brings benefits also in terms of addressing the climate change challenge (e.g. Electric or hybrid vehicles or engines). In particular, in the case of AQ measures focused on the reduction of emissions of Black Carbon (BC), methane (CH4), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), or of measures to reduce Ozone (O3) - and its precursors - four atmospheric compounds classified ‘Short-Lived Climate Forcer’ (SLCF), it is possible to obtain additionally an important positive effect in terms of climate change mitigation. In fact, these ambient air pollutants, with a huge climate forcing impact, have a shorter lifetime in atmosphere than CO2 (that is hundreds of years) and their emissions reduction can reduce total climate concentrations and global temperatures faster and in a more significant manner, than acting only on reducing CO2 emissions. Acting locally on the reduction of these pollutants it is possible to obtain a ‘win-win strategy’57 (on local health and on global climate) and also achieve cost saving. Thus in the framework of the assessments performed in the elaboration phase of the AQ plan it is a good practice to add assessment related to the benefits reachable in term reduction of greenhouse emissions, not only in term on CO2 but also in term of these ‘short-lived climate forcers’, in particular for those with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) index higher than CO2 (around 680 times for Black Carbon58 on a 100 years basis and 28-26 times for Methane59). It is clear that an ‘integrated’ planning on air quality and climate change would be a good practice for a city engaged in sustainable goals. Climate Change Policies need coherence with Air Quality Plans

If an Air Quality measure generally has a co-benefit for climate change policies, climate change mitigation actions not always bring positive effects on air quality. It is the case of the increase in the vehicle fleet of diesel motorization (based on lower CO2 emission factors, but with higher emissions of PM and NO2) and the use of biomass burning, with toxic emissions of PM and benzo(a)pyrene as main pollutants (Figure 17).

57 Shindell et al., 2012: 'Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and Improving Human Health and Food

Security', Science 2012; 335: 183-189. Anenberg et al., 2012: ‘Global Air Quality and Health Co-Benefits of Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change through

Methane and Black Carbon Emission Controls’, Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):831-9. doi:

10.1289/ehp.1104301. Epub 2012 Mar 14. 58 Bond and Sun, 2005: ‘Can reducing black carbon emissions counteract global warming?’, Environ Sci Technol. 2005,

Aug 15;39(16):5921-6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16173547 59 https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials#Learn%20why

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16173547


https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials#Learn%20why


97

Another air quality problem not faced by Climate Action Plans, that usually contain incentives for electric vehicles, is the non-exhaust emissions from those vehicles (PM, metal oxides, etc.). Figure 17 - Air quality and Climate Change challenge in measures selection60

Source: Vignati et al., 2018

Examples of win-win strategies

Examples of measures co-benefitting air quality and climate are: ✓ Reduction/ban of fossil fuels use (both fixed sources and traffic) with

promotion of renewable energy source (not including biomass burning): solar, wind energy, etc.;

✓ Implementation of energy efficiency policies.

At city level, local administration can act also at micro-scale planning level, for instance, with:

✓ the creation of wider green areas; ✓ the redefinition of urban density in new development areas, with creation

open corridor to improve air pollution dispersion.

These solutions can bring benefits on the temperature levels at micro-scale, reducing damage linked to heat waves or tropical nights at urban level. In conclusion, it is important to bring higher on the urban agenda the concept of ‘integrated sustainable planning’ that requires strong coherence between Climate Change Plans and Air Quality Plans together with dialogue and coordination between authorities involved and the public.

60 Vignati et al., 2018: ‘Air Quality in Europe: Overview, Issues and way forward’, EU Greenweek Proceedings, May 2018


98

7.5 Selecting and prioritizing measures

In order to define Responses (that means, to select which policies should be implemented), the main available approaches are based on:

• Scenario analysis: in this context, in the ideal case, the selected policies will be ‘translated’ in emission change and then in concentration change, using a multiscale approach based on what we discussed in the previous sections (using different models able to describe how the measures will impact a) urban background, b) city level pollution and c) street canyons);

• Optimization approaches: in this case the idea is to look for the optimal (best) compromises between air quality improvement and costs of policies.

Integrated Assessment Models are fit-for-purpose tools to do so (as i.e. GAINS, Amann et al., 2011 or RIAT+, Carnevale et al., 2012).

A key aspect for both approaches (scenario or optimization) is to have reliable inventories of emission reduction measures. Several inventories have been made of measures to improve air quality at local scale. Often they are focused at finding a solution to solve exceedances at certain hotspots (see e.g. the JRC catalogue of measures, at http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/measure-catalogue/, or the JOAQUIN Decision Support Tool, at http://www.joaquin.eu/Knowledge/Decision-Support-Tool/page.aspx/121). If considering the mobility sector as an example, we can say that reducing traffic has a greater effect on population exposure than a shift to zero-emissions vehicles (because emissions from tyres, break and road wear will still continue). Stimulating zero-emission vehicles is more effective than a shift from diesel to petrol cars. The effectiveness of low emission zones depends largely on the size of the zone. In assessing the health impacts, one should realize that concentration reductions also occur outside the city, because cities are a net exporter of pollution and because measures will also cause a shift in vehicle types and modal split in the commuting zone around the city. The implementation of measures depends on the public and political awareness and support, the choice of policy instruments (promotion campaigns, use of economic instruments, regulation and/or infrastructural investments) and the available funding. The effectiveness of local measures for the average PM2.5 exposure in a city is often limited, because a substantial part of the air quality is influenced by sources outside the city. Local measures on traffic can be more effective on NO2 concentrations.

http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/measure-catalogue/

http://www.joaquin.eu/Knowledge/Decision-Support-Tool/page.aspx/121

http://www.joaquin.eu/Knowledge/Decision-Support-Tool/page.aspx/121


99

AIR QUALITY SCENARIOS ANALYSIS


Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’Agglomeration Strasbourgeoise, 2015-

2020

Impact on Air quality of Traffic measures:


100

Impact on Air quality of Residential/tertiary heating suppling measures:

References:


2015-2020 http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-

publiques/Environnement-prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-

technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-l-Atmosphere-de-l-

agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA






101

COST EFFECTIVENESS City of UTRECHT (The Netherlands) [344 384 inhabitants]

Assessment of effectiveness of AQ measures, Utrecht AQP 2013-2015 Effect of measures on the improvement of air quality (yellow bars) and their cost-effectiveness (orange bars) expressed as µg/m3 NO2 decrease per million euro.

The conclusion is that clean busses have the highest effect, followed by stimulating clean passenger cars, package deliverance, clean taxis and clean LDVs. Most of the total expenditures is invested in clean busses. Table: Measures in order of cost-effectiveness Nr Measure Cost Effectiveness (in µg/m3 NO2 decrease per million euro) 1. Clean busses 1.59 2. Optimised logistics construction work 0.20 3. Clean passenger cars 0.17 4. Clean taxis 0.12 5. Action plan clean good transport (road-rail-water) 0.09 6. Clean vehicles belonging to the local government 0.08 7. Clean LDVs 0.06 8. Clean package deliverance (including logistics) 0.05 9. Covenant cycling to work 0.04 10. Clean HDVs (euro VI) 0.03 11. Traffic dosing at entrance of the city - 12. Dynamic traffic management - 13. Action plan persons transport - References:

▪ Community of Utrecht, 2013. Gezonde lucht voor Utrecht, Uitvoeringsprogramma 2013-2015. https://www.publicspaceinfo.nl/media/uploads/files/UTRECHT_2013_0012.pdf

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102

7.6 Listing and describing the measures selected

The final section of the AQP is generally dedicated to listing and describing the measures

selected.

In the following tables some examples of presentation of measures are given. In tables

the measures can be listed together with a synthetic description of assessed impact for

targeted pollutants and other benefits, the timing for implementation and related

responsible authority. For each measure a one/two pages description is given to better

illustrate it with more details. For enhanced completeness and transparency, several

AQPs also report the budget defined for implementing the AQP with the related time

plan. This is a best practice increasing the chances for a successful AQP implementation.

LIST OF MEASURES City of BERLIN (Germany) [3 711 930 inhabitants]

City of Berlin List of Measure, AQP 2011-2017

References:

▪ Air Quality Plan for Berlin 2011-2017, https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_150310_en.pdf




103

MEASURES DESCRIPTION


References:







104

BUDGET FOR MEASURES


Example of the City of Madrid Table of Cost for the New AQP Municipal Measures

References:


https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_Educacio

nAmbiental/Catalogo/AirQualityPlan2011-15.pdf



105

REFERENCES

Technical reports and scientific papers

▪ Anenberg S.C., Schwartz J., Shindell D., Amann M., Faluvegi G., Klimont Z.,

Janssens-Maenhout G., Pozzoli L., Van Dingenen R., Vignati E., Emberson L.,

Muller N.Z., West J.J., Williams M., Demkine V., Hicks W.K., Kuylenstierna J.,

Raes F., Ramanathan V., 2012: ‘Global Air Quality and Health Co-Benefits of

Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change through Methane and Black Carbon

Emission Controls’, Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):831-9. doi:

10.1289/ehp.1104301. Epub 2012 Mar 14.


▪ Bruyninckx H., 2017, Cleaner air benefits human health and climate change, EEA

Newsletter, Issue 2017/4, 15 December 2017,

https://www.eea.europa.eu/articles/cleaner-air-benefits-human-health

▪ Claudio A. Belis, Bo R. Larsen, Fulvio Amato, Imad El Haddad, Olivier Favez, Roy

M.Harrison, Philip K. Hopke, Silvia Nava, Pentti Paatero, André Prévôt, Ulrich

Quass, Roberta Vecchi, Mar Viana - 2014, European Guide on Air pollution

Source Apportionment with receptor models, JRC, Report EUR 26080 EN, ISBN

978-92-79-32513-7, doi: 10.2788/9307

▪ Commission Staff Working Document Better Regulation Guidelines {COM(2015)

215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final http://ec.europa.eu/smart-

regulation/guidelines/docs/swd_br_guidelines_en.pdf

▪ EEA, 2017a. Air quality in Europe. 2017 report, EEA Report no. 13/2017,

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-quality-in-europe-2017

▪ EEA, 2017b. European Air Quality Index: current air quality information at your

finger tips, https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/air-quality-index

▪ EEA, 2018. Improving air quality in European cities will bring major health

benefits, EEA News, https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/improving-air-

quality-in-european

▪ EMEP/EEA, 2016. EMEP/EEA Air pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook 2016.

Technical guidance to prepare national emission inventories, EEA Report No

21/2016, ISBN 978-92-9213-806-6, ISSN 1977-8449, doi:10.2800/247535

▪ Maas, R., Grennfelt P., (eds), 2016. Towards Cleaner Air. Scientific Assessment

Report 2016. EMEP Steering Body and Working Group on Effects of the

Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Oslo.

▪ Miranda A., Silveira C., Ferreira J., Monteiro A., Lopes D., Relvas H., Borrego C.,

Roebeling P., Current air quality plans in Europe designed to support air quality

management policies, Atmospheric Pollution Research, 6 (2015) 434-443

▪ P. Thunis, B. Degraeuwe, E. Pisoni, M. Trombetti, E. Peduzzi, C.A. Belis, J. Wilson,

A. Clappier, E. Vignati, 2018 - PM2.5 source allocation in European cities: A



http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/guidelines/docs/swd_br_guidelines_en.pdf


https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-quality-in-europe-2017

https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/air-quality-index

https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/improving-air-quality-in-european

https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/improving-air-quality-in-european

REFERENCES

106

SHERPA modelling study, Atmospheric Environment, Volume 187, 2018, Pages

93-106, ISSN 1352-2310, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.05.062.

▪ Partnership Air Quality - Urban Agenda for the EU, 2018, ‘Final Draft Action

Plan’, 1st November 2017. https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/air-quality

▪ Philippe Thunis,2018 - On the validity of the incremental approach to estimate

the impact of cities on air quality, Atmospheric Environment, Volume 173, 2018,

Pages 210-222, ISSN 1352-2310,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.11.012

▪ Shindell D. Kuylenstierna J.C.I., Vignati E., van Dingenen R., Amann M., Klimont

Z., Anenberg S., Muller N., Janssens-Maenhout G., Raes F., Schwartz J., Faluvegi

G., Pozzoli L., Kupiainen K., Höglund-Isaksson L., Emberson L., Streets D.,

Ramanathan V., Hicks K., Oanh N.T.K., Milly G., Williams M., Demkine V., Fowler

D., 'Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and Improving

Human Health and Food Security', Science 2012; 335: 183-189.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/335/6065/183

▪ Thunis et al., 2017: Urban PM2.5 Atlas - Air Quality in European cities. EUR

28804 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxemburg, 2017, ISBN

978-92-79-73876-0, JRC10808595.

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-

reports/urban-pm25-atlas-air-quality-european-cities

▪ United Nations, 2015 - ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development’, Resolution 70/1 adopted by the General Assembly

on 25 September 2015, 21 October 2015

http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalasse

mbly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf

▪ World Bank and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2016. ‘The Cost of

Air Pollution: Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC:

World Bank. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO

Air quality plans

▪ Action Plan for air quality improvement in the territory of the City of Zagreb,


▪ Action Plan for emission reducing of PM10 in City of Sisak,


▪ Action Plan for emission reduction of (PM10) in City of Osijek,


▪ Action Plan for emissions reduction of PM10 the City of Kutina,


▪ Action Plan for improvement of air quality for Cty of Slavonski Brod,


▪ Action Plan for NH3 emission reduction in City of Kutina,





http://science.sciencemag.org/content/335/6065/183



http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf

http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf







REFERENCES

107

▪ Action Plan for reduction of Ozone levels for the City of Rijeka,



https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/dow

nload/lrp_150310_en.pdf

▪ Air Quality Plan of the City of Helsinki 2017-2024,

https://www.hel.fi/static/ymk/julkaisut/julkaisu-11-16.pdf

▪ City of Amsterdam, 2016: ‘Clean Air for Amsterdam: Set of Measures. Towards

an emission-free 2025 Amsterdam’, February 2016

▪ Dreal, Rhone Alpes, 2015, Plan local d’amélioration de la qualité de l’air sur le

territoire de Chambéry Métropole, Document soumis à la concertation, Version

du 2. févr. 2015

▪ Hackney Council (UK) Air Quality Plan

http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-publiques/Environnement-prevention-

des-risques-naturels-et-technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-l-

Atmosphere-de-l-agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA

https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/qualitataire/sites/default/files/pdfs/PMQAB

_EN_2014.pdf


https://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/AreasUrbanas_EducacionA

mbiental/Catalogo/AirQualityPlan2011-15.pdf

▪ Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’agglomeration strasbourgeoise, 2015-

2020, http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-publiques/Environnement-

prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-

l-Atmosphere-de-l-agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA


https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/qualitataire/sites/default/files/pdfs/PMQAB

_EN_2014.pdf

▪ Préfet de la Region de l’Ile-de-France, Préfet de Paris, Plan de protection de

l’Atmosphère pour l’Ile-de-France. Revision approuvée, le 25 mars 2013

References Section 4.4 – Strategic Environmental Assessment

▪ European Commission - DG ENV: Implementation of directive 2001/42 on the

Assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.

▪ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/sea-support.htm

▪ Ispra, 2015: Indicazioni operative a supporto della valutazione e redazione dei

documenti della VAS. Delibera Consiglio Federale. Seduta del 22/04/2015 Doc.

N. 51/15-CF. Manuali e Linee Guida 124/2015

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/manuali-e-linee-

guida/indicazioni-operative-a-supporto-della-valutazione-e-redazione-dei-

documenti-della-vas

















http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/sea-support.htm

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/manuali-e-linee-guida/indicazioni-operative-a-supporto-della-valutazione-e-redazione-dei-documenti-della-vas



REFERENCES

108

▪ Ispra, 2017, Linee guida per l’analisi e la caratterizzazione delle componenti

ambientali a supporto della valutazione e redazione dei documenti della VAS,

Delibera del Consiglio federale. Seduta de 29/11/2016. Doc. n. 84/16 - CF.

Manuali e Linee Guida 148/2017.

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files/pubblicazioni/manuali-

lineeguida/MLG_148_17_LGVAS.pdf

▪ Richter M., 2015: EIA and SEA in Germany Federal German Act on EIA and SEA

of 2011 - The national system including transboundary environmental

assessment - Subregional Workshop on the Espoo-Convention and the SEA

Protocol, Rabat, Morocco, 14-15 April 2015

▪ UK Government, 2005: A Practical Guide to the Strategic Environmental

Assessment Directive, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government

Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland, Office of the Deputy Prime

Minister, London, September 2005

References Section 4.5 – E-Reporting Format and Requirements

▪ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pdf/guidanceunderairquality.pdf

▪ http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap

▪ http://www.ceip.at/fileadmin/inhalte/emep/pdf/NFR09_SNAP_GNFR.pdf

▪ http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/toolbox-for-e-reporting/pp-

tool/

▪ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance1.p

df

▪ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/IPR_guidance2.p

df

▪ https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/about-inspire/563

▪ http://eeadmz1-cws-wp-air.azurewebsites.net/products/links-to-eea-

website/aide-tables/aideh.apps.eea.europa.eu/

References Section 5.3 – Key factors

▪ DEFRA, 2018: Local Air Quality Management Technical Guidance (TG16), Part IV

of the Environment Act 1995, Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 Part

III, February 2018

▪ https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-

food-rural-affairs

▪ NSCA, 2000: National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection, Air

Quality Plans, 2000: Interim Guidance for Local Authorities, 2000

▪ Partnership Air Quality, 2017 Final Action Plan of the Partnership on Air Quality

▪ Partnership Air Quality, 2017, WP4 deliverables

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files/pubblicazioni/manuali-lineeguida/MLG_148_17_LGVAS.pdf

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files/pubblicazioni/manuali-lineeguida/MLG_148_17_LGVAS.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pdf/guidanceunderairquality.pdf

http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap

http://www.ceip.at/fileadmin/inhalte/emep/pdf/NFR09_SNAP_GNFR.pdf







https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/about-inspire/563

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs


REFERENCES

109

References Section 6.1.4 – Challenges in awareness raising

▪ City of Amsterdam, 2016: ‘Clean Air for Amsterdam: Set of Measures. Towards

an emission-free 2025 Amsterdam’, February 2016

▪ Greater London Authority, 2017, T-Charge info campaign

▪ HEAL, 2018, ‘Communicating on Air Quality and Health: Inspiring practices,

challenges and tips. Toolkit’ Partnership Air Quality Action Plan, Action 5

Deliverable.

References Section 6.4 – Monitoring, Reporting and Reviewing

▪ Commission Staff Working Document Better Regulation Guidelines {COM(2015)

215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final http://ec.europa.eu/smart-

regulation/guidelines/docs/swd_br_guidelines_en.pdf

▪ DEFRA, Action Planning: Good Practice website:


References Section 7.1.1 – Air Quality Assessment

▪ Belis C.A., Jannsen S., Thunis P., 2015. FAIRMODE contribution to the e-

reporting implementation.

▪ Denby B. et al., 2011, Guide on modelling Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) for air quality

assessment and planning relevant to the European Air Quality Directive,

ETC/ACM Technical Paper 2011/15, December 2011

▪ EEA, 2011, The application of models under the European Union's Air Quality

Directive: A technical reference guide, EEA Technical report No 10/2011,

ISBN:978-92-9213-223-1

▪ VITO et al., 2015, WP4 Guidance on integrated air quality and health assessment

systems. D4.4. Final version of the Guidance document. Appraisal FP7 project.

http://appraisal-fp7.terraria.com/site/images/pdf/Appraisal_D4_4final.pdf

References Section 7.1.3 – Emission inventory and projections

▪ COPERT - COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport,

www.emisia.com/copert

▪ EMEP/EEA, 2016. EMEP/EEA Air pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook 2016.

Technical guidance to prepare national emission inventories, EEA Report No

21/2016, ISBN 978-92-9213-806-6, ISSN 1977-8449, doi:10.2800/247535

▪ HBEFA - Handbook Emission Factors for Road Transport, http://www.hbefa.net




References Section 7.1.4 – Source apportionment

▪ Belis C. A., Georgieva E, Janos O, Sega K, Törok S, Veleva B, Perrone M, Vratolis

S, Pernigotti D, Eleftheriadis K., A comparative analysis of the causes of air




http://appraisal-fp7.terraria.com/site/images/pdf/Appraisal_D4_4final.pdf

http://www.emisia.com/copert

http://www.hbefa.net/

REFERENCES

110

pollution in three cities of the Danube region: implications for the

implementation of the air quality directives. EUR 27712 EN. doi:10.2788/73231,

http://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Docu/LB-NA-27712-EN-N.pdf

▪ Belis C.A., Bo R. Larsen, Fulvio Amato, Imad El Haddad, Olivier Favez, Roy




978-92-79-32513-7, doi: 10.2788/9307

▪ Belis, C. A; Favez, O.; Harrison, R. M; Larsen, B. R; Amato, F.; El Haddad, I.; Hopke,

P. K; Nava, S.; Paatero, P.; Prévôt, A., Quass U., Vecchi R., Viana M., 2014.

European Guide on Air Pollution Source Apportionment with Receptor Models,

Report EUR 26080 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxemburg,






ISBN:978-92-9213-223-1

http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/document/fairmode/WG3/Sources_and_geo

graphic_origin_of_particulate_matter.pdf

▪ Lenschow, P., Abraham, H. J., Kutzner, K., Lutz, M., Preuß, J. D., and

Reichenbächer, W., 2001. Some ideas about the sources of PM10. Atmospheric

Environment 35, S23-S3





E. Vignati, Urban PM2.5 Atlas - Air Quality in European cities, EUR 28804 EN,

Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2017, ISBN 978-92-79-

73876-0, doi:10.2760/336669, JRC108595




A. Clappier, E. Vignati, 2018 - PM2.5 source allocation in European cities: A

SHERPA modelling study, Atmospheric Environment, Volume 187, 2018, Pages

93-106, ISSN 1352-2310, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.05.062

References Section 7.4.1 – Air Quality impacts

▪ Belis C. A., Georgieva E, Janos O, Sega K, Törok S, Veleva B, Perrone M, Vratolis

S, Pernigotti D, Eleftheriadis K., A comparative analysis of the causes of air

pollution in three cities of the Danube region: implications for the


http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/document/fairmode/WG3/Sources_and_geographic_origin_of_particulate_matter.pdf





REFERENCES

111

implementation of the air quality directives. EUR 27712 EN. doi:10.2788/73231,


▪ Belis C.A., Bo R. Larsen, Fulvio Amato, Imad El Haddad, Olivier Favez, Roy




978-92-79-32513-7, doi: 10.2788/9307

▪ Belis, C. A.; Favez, O.; Harrison, R. M; Larsen, B. R; Amato, F.; El Haddad, I.;

Hopke, P. K; Nava, S.; Paatero, P.; Prévôt, A., Quass U., Vecchi R., Viana M., 2014.

European Guide on Air Pollution Source Apportionment with Receptor Models,

Report EUR 26080 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxemburg,






ISBN:978-92-9213-223-1

http://fairmode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/document/fairmode/WG3/Sources_and_geo

graphic_origin_of_particulate_matter.pdf

▪ Lenschow, P., Abraham, H. J., Kutzner, K., Lutz, M., Preuß, J. D., and

Reichenbächer, W., 2001. Some ideas about the sources of PM10. Atmospheric

Environment 35, S23-S3







▪ Thunis P., Degraeuwe B., Pisoni E., Trombetti M., Peduzzi E., Belis C.A., Wilson

J., Vignati E., Urban PM2.5 Atlas - Air Quality in European cities, EUR 28804 EN,

Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2017, ISBN 978-92-

79-73876-0, doi: 10.2760/336669, JRC108595



References Section 7.4.2 – Health impacts

▪ APHEKOM, 2012: Summary report of the Aphekom project 2008-2011,

http://aphekom.org/web/aphekom.org/home

▪ Brandt et al., 2011: Assessment of Health-Cost Externalities of Air Pollution at

the National Level using the EVA Model System, CEEH Scientific Report No 3,

Centre for Energy, Environment and Health Report series, March 2011, pp. 98.

http://www.ceeh.dk/CEEH_Reports/Report_3/CEEH_Scientific_Report3.pdf






http://www.ceeh.dk/CEEH_Reports/Report_3/CEEH_Scientific_Report3.pdf

REFERENCES

112

▪ Brukmann and Lutz, 2011: Do Low Emission Zones reduce the burden of

particulates?, XV ETH Conference on Combustion Generated Nanoparticles,

Zurich, June 26th-29th 2011

▪ EEA - European Environmental Agency, 2014: Air Quality in Europe - 2014 report,

No. 5/2014

▪ IARC/WHO, 2013: IARC Outdoor air pollution is a leading environmental cause

of cancer death, Press Release n. 221, 17th October 2013

▪ Miller, B., Hurley, F., 2006: Comparing estimated risks for air pollution with risks

for other health effects.

▪ Pascal M., Corso M., Chanel O., Declecq C., Badaloni C., Cesaroni G., Henschel S.,

Maister K., Haluza D., Martin-Olmedo P., Medina S. Assessing the public health

impact of urban air pollution in 25 European cities: results of the Aphekom

project. Science of the Total Environment, 2013; 449:390-400.

▪ Pennell, K. G., Thompson, M., Rice, J. W., Senier, L., Brown, P., & Suuberg, E.,

2013: Bridging research and environmental regulatory processes: the role of

knowledge brokers. Environmental science & technology, 47(21), 11985-11992

▪ Perez L., Declercq C., Iñiguez C., Aguilera I., Badaloni C., Ballester F., Bouland C.,

Chanel O., Cirarda FB, Forastiere F., Forsberg B., Haluza D., Hedlund B., Cambra

K., Lacasaña M., Moshammer H., Otorepec P., Rodríguez-Barranco M., Medina

S., Künzli N.. Chronic burden of near-roadway traffic pollution in 10 European

cities (Aphekom network). ERJ Express. Published on March 21, 2013 as doi:

10.1183/09031936.00031112

▪ Perez L., Künzli N., 2011: Guidelines of methods for integrating chronic effects

of local-traffic pollution in the air pollution health impact methodology (WP4).

Deliverable D3 April 2011, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel

University of Basel CREAL.

▪ Raaschou-Nielsen et al., 2013: Air pollution and lung cancer incidence in 17

European cohorts: prospective analyses from the European Study of Cohorts for

Air Pollution Effect (ESCAPE), www.thelancet.com/neurology Published on line

July 10, 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70279-1

▪ Van den Brenk, I., 2018: The Use of Health Assessment Impact Tools in European

cities. A guide to support policy towards cleaner air and improvement of citizens’

health. Urban Agenda - Partnership on Air Quality, Action 4 Deliverable,

November 2018

▪ WHO, 2006: Air Quality Guidelines. Global Update 2005. Particulate matter,

ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide', http://www.euro.who.int, ISBN 92

890 2192 6

▪ WHO, 2013, a: Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution - REVIHAAP

Project. World Health Organization, Copenhagen, Denmark.

▪ WHO, 2013, b: Health risks of air pollution in Europe - HRAPIE project. New

emerging risks to health from air pollution - results from the survey of experts.

Copenhagen, Denmark.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70279-1

REFERENCES

113

▪ WHO, 2013, c: Health risks of air pollution in Europe-HRAPIE project:

Recommendations for concentration-response functions for cost-benefit

analysis of particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide. Copenhagen,

Denmark.

▪ WHO, AirQ+: software tool for health risk assessment of air pollution,

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/air-

quality/activities/airq-software-tool-for-health-risk-assessment-of-air-pollution

▪ Zuurbier, M., van de Weerdt, R., Fischer, P. (2014): Rekenmethode

gezondheidseffectschatting luchtkwaliteit en geluid - een handreiking voor

GGD’en, September 2014

References Section 7.4.3 – Climate change impact

▪ Anenberg et al., 2012: ‘Global Air Quality and Health Co-Benefits of Mitigating

Near-Term Climate Change through Methane and Black Carbon Emission

Controls’, Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):831-9. doi:

10.1289/ehp.1104301. Epub 2012 Mar 14.

▪ Bond and Sun, 2005: ‘Can reducing black carbon emissions counteract global

warming?’, Environ Sci Technol. 2005, Aug 15;39(16):5921-6


▪ Bruyninckx H., 2017, Cleaner air benefits human health and climate change, EEA

Newsletter, Issue 2017/4, 15 December 2017,


▪ Defra, 2015 - ‘Engaging local decision-makers about air pollution’. A guide for

Directors of Public Health, February 2015




▪ Shindell et al., 2012: 'Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and

Improving Human Health and Food Security', Science 2012; 335: 183-189.

▪ Stohl et al., 2015, Evaluating the Climate and Air Quality Impacts of Short-Lived

Pollutants, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10529-10566, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-

15-10529-2015.

References Section 7.5 – Selection and prioritizing measures

▪ Amann et al., 2011: Cost-effective control of air quality and greenhouse gases in

Europe: Modelling and policy applications, Environmental Modelling &

Software, 26, 1489-1501.

▪ Carnevale et al., 2012: An integrated assessment tool to define effective air

quality policies at regional scale, Environmental Modelling & Software, 38, 306-

315.

▪ EMEP/EEA, 2016: EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook.

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/air-quality/activities/airq-software-tool-for-health-risk-assessment-of-air-pollution

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/air-quality/activities/airq-software-tool-for-health-risk-assessment-of-air-pollution




https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10529-2015

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10529-2015

REFERENCES

114

▪ Guariso G., Maione M., Volta M., 2016: A decision framework for Integrated

Assessment Modelling of air quality at regional and local scale, Environmental

Science & Policy, 65, 3-12.

▪ Miller, B., Hurley, F., Comparing estimated risks for air pollution with risks for

other health effects.

▪ Stohl et al., 2015. Evaluating the Climate and Air Quality Impacts of Short-Lived

Pollutants, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10529-10566

▪ Thunis P., Degraeuwe B., Pisoni E., Ferrari F., Clappier A., 2016: On the design

and assessment of regional air quality plans: The SHERPA approach, Journal of

Environmental Management, 183, 952-958.

▪ Thunis P., et al, 2018: PM2.5 source allocation in European cities: A SHERPA

modelling study, Atmospheric Environment, 187, 93-106.

▪ WHO, 2013: Health risks of air pollution in Europe - HRAPIE project. New

emerging risks to health from air pollution - results from the survey of experts.

Copenhagen, Denmark.

▪ World Bank and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2016. ‘The Cost of

Air Pollution: Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC.

▪ Zuurbier, M., van de Weerdt, R., Fischer, P. (2014): Rekenmethode

gezondheidseffectschatting luchtkwaliteit en geluid - een handreiking voor

GGD’en, September 2014.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479716307125



115

LEGISLATION


Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to ozone in

ambient air (notified under document number C(2004) 764

Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1480 of 28 August 2015 amending several annexes to

Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

laying down the rules concerning reference methods, data validation and location of

sampling points for the assessment of ambient air quality


rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council as regards the reciprocal exchange of information and reporting on ambient air

quality (notified under document C (2011) 9068) (‘IPR Decision’)

Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and

of wild fauna and flora (‘Habitats Directive’)

Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of 14 December 2016 of the European Parliament and of the

Council on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants,



Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes

on the environment (‘Strategic Environmental Assessment’ - SEA Directive)




participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC (‘Public

Participation Directive’ - PPD)

Directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December

2004 relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbons in ambient air (‘Fourth Daughter Directive’)

Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the

European Community (‘INSPIRE Directive’)

Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on

ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (‘Ambient Air Quality Directive’ - AAQD)

Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain

public and private projects on the environment (‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ -

EIA Directive)

Directive 2014/52/EU of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the

assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (‘EIA

Directive - Amended’)

116

i

APPENDIXES

ii

I List of mandatory elements of an Air Quality

Plan

This Appendix shows the list of information to be included in the local, regional or national air quality plans for improvement in ambient air quality, as included in Annex XV - Part A of Directive 2008/50/EC.

I - List of mandatory elements of an Air Quality Plan

iii

iv

II List of existing guidelines for Air Quality Plans

It is not easy to find guidelines on how to draft and implement Air Quality Plans at local level that could be used by cities of different EU Member states, also due to the different implementation of Dir. 2008/50/EC in the various EU countries. This is the motivation for drafting this Code, which has been produced to help cities and local authorities fulfil EU legislation applicable to Air quality planning, and thus protect the health of citizens and of the environment. The UK, for instance, in the implementation of Dir. 2008/50/EC has developed Technical Guidelines that are different for England, Scotland, Wales and for the London area. In the present Code the most recent Technical Guidance for Northern Ireland (DEFRA, 2018) has been considered, seeming to be nearest to legislation for Cities AQPs of other EU Countries. Well before the adoption of the Dir. 2008/50/EC the UK National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection drafted an Interim Guidance for Local Authorities AQPs (NSCA, 2000), but indication need to be adapted to the present legislative context. Two other interesting Technical Guidance documents are respectively, the one edited by the German Environment Agency and addressed to the Bulgarian Government (Umweltbundesamt, 2015), and the one commissioned by the Italian Ministry to the Italian Environmental Agencies System (SNPA, 2016) for Regions - who are in charge for AQPs in Italy - both focused on the content of the AQP and on available instruments for assessment and air quality modelling, rather than on the process to follow for adopting the Directive. Others Guidance documents found in research literature are focused on specific topics (air quality modelling tools, air quality measures, etc.) and are cited in the Code in the related section. EXISTING GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTING AQPs:

• DEFRA, 2018: Local Air Quality Management Technical Guidance (TG16), Part IV of the Environment Act 1995, Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 Part III, February 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs

• NSCA - National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection, 2000: Air Quality Plans: Interim Guidance for Local Authorities, Air Quality Plans Working Group of NSCA’s Air Quality Committee, 2000 https://laqm.defra.gov.uk/assets/aqactionplansinterim.pdf

• SNPA - Sistema Nazionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente, Gruppo di Lavoro Interagenziale 30, 2016 - Linee Guida per la redazione dei Piani di Qualità dell’Aria di cui all’art. 9 del D.Lgs. 155/2010, 29 Novembre 2016

http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files/snpa/consiglio-federale/Delibera90cfPropostaLLGGredazionepianidiqualitdellariaconallegati.pdf



https://laqm.defra.gov.uk/assets/aqactionplansinterim.pdf




II - List of existing guidelines for Air Quality Plans

v

• UBA, 2016 - Guideline on Air Quality Plans, August 2016, ISSN 2363-832X

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/publications

• DEFRA, 2018 - Air Quality Action Planning and Good Practice


Some EXISTING GUIDELINES on Health Impact/related Citizens Awareness/AQ Measures

• DEFRA and Public Health England, 2017: Air Quality: A Briefing for Directors of Public Health, March 2017

https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/6.3091_DEFRA_AirQualityGuide_9web_0.pdf

• GLA - Greater London Authority, 2012: Air Quality in City of London: A Guide for Public Health Professionals, November 2012

https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/air_quality_for_public_health_professionals_-_city_of_london.pdf

• ENVII Committee, 2016: Implementation of Ambient Air Quality

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/578986/IPOL_STU(2016)578986_EN.pdf

Some EXISTING GUIDELINES on AQ Measures:

• UBA, 2015: Inventory and effectiveness of measures to improve air quality, TEXTE 05/2015, ISSN 1862-4804

http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/inventory-effectiveness-of-measures-to-improve-air

• X. Querol and F. Amato (eds.) 2017: GUIDEBOOK: Measures to Improve Urban Air Quality, AIRUSE Project, ISBN: 978-84-697-5499-3, September 2017

http://www.cleanaircities.net/

• EEA - European Environment Agency, 2013: Air Implementation Pilot. Lessons learnt from the implementation of air quality Legislation at urban level, EEA Report No 7/2013, ISSN 1725-9177

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-implementation-pilot-2013/file

• ETC/ACM - European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation, 2013: Air Implementation Pilot: Workshop on measures, Copenhagen, February 27th, 2013 - ETC/ACM Technical paper 2013/5, June 2013

TRANSPORT

• Low Emission Zones: http://urbanaccessregulations.eu/

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/publications










http://www.cleanaircities.net/

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-implementation-pilot-2013/file

http://urbanaccessregulations.eu/

II - List of existing guidelines for Air Quality Plans

vi

LAND USE PLANNING

• EPUK & IAQM, 2017: Land-Use Planning & Development Control: Planning For Air Quality. Guidance from Environmental Protection UK and the Institute of Air Quality Management for the consideration of air quality within the land-use planning and development control processes, January, 2017 http://www.iaqm.co.uk/text/guidance/air-quality-planning-guidance.pdf CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

• https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/supplementary-planning-guidance/control-dust-and

Some EXISTING GUIDELINES on AQ Modelling:

• Belis C., et al, 2014: European Guide on with Receptor Models Air Pollution Source Apportionment, European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Report EUR 26080 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-32513-7, doi: 10.2788/9307

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/reference-reports/european-guide-air-pollution-source-apportionment-receptor-models

• G. Guariso and M. Volta (eds.) 2017, Air Quality Integrated Assessment, PoliMI SpringerBriefs, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33349-6_1, November 2017

https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319333489

• JRC - Joint Research Centre, 2014: European Guide on with Receptor Models Air Pollution Source Apportionment, European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Report EUR 26080 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-32513-7


• Miranda A. et al, 2015: Current air quality plans in Europe designed to support air quality management policies, Atmospheric Pollution Research 6 (2015) 434 443

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1309104215302129

• VITO, 2015: WP4 Guidance on integrated air quality and health assessment systems. D4.4 Final Version of the Guidance document (version 1.1), FP7 Appraisal project, 8 June 2015.

www.appraisal-fp7.eu

• P. Thunis, B. Degraeuwe, E. Pisoni, F. Ferrari and A. Clappier, 2016: On the design and assessment of regional air quality plans: The SHERPA approach, Journal of Environmental Management 183

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82813188.pdf

http://www.iaqm.co.uk/text/guidance/air-quality-planning-guidance.pdf

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/supplementary-planning-guidance/control-dust-and

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/supplementary-planning-guidance/control-dust-and



https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319333489



https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1309104215302129

http://www.appraisal-fp7.eu/

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82813188.pdf

vii

III List of existing guidelines for Short-term Action

Plans

Short-term action plans are defined by Art. 24 of Directive 2008/50/EC. An existing collection of Best Practices for implementing short-term action plans, that can be seen as a sort of Guidance, is given in the following report:

• AEA and Umweltbundesamt, 2012: Best Practices for short-term action plans, Report for the European Commission, January 2012 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/SC5_Task%201_report.pdf

EXAMPLES of short-term action plans

• STRASBOURG (France)

https://www.bisonfute.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Strasbourg_Dossier_de_presse_du_3_juillet_17.pdf

• MANNHEIM (Germany)

https://rp.badenwuerttemberg.de/rpk/Abt5/Ref541/Luftreinhalteplan/rpk54.1_lrp_fortschr_jan12.pdf

• PO VALLEY BASIN Agreement (Italy)

http://www.regione.lombardia.it/wps/portal/istituzionale/HP/DettaglioRedazionale/servizi-e-informazioni/cittadini/Tutela-ambientale/Qualita-dell-aria/misure-di-limitazione-per-qualita-aria/misure-di-limitazione-per-qualita-aria

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/SC5_Task%201_report.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/pdf/SC5_Task%201_report.pdf









viii

IV Cities Air Quality Plans: examples of best

practices

BERLIN

Air Quality Plan for Berlin 2011-2017 https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_150310_en.pdf (English full version) Themes and pollutants: traffic (NO2, PM10, diesel soot), construction sites (PM10, diesel soot). Objective: for compliance with EU Limit Values for NO2 and PM10 in long term for the whole city territory; to protect citizens health reducing the number, duration and intensity of the exceedances. For AQP structure:

✓ A full version in English

For consistent implementation of Dir. 2008/50/EC For attention for social equity in air pollution exposure and related health effects (Environmental justice as a model scheme):

✓ Socio-spatial distribution maps of air pollutants in Berlin considered for Urban Planning and AQ measures

For Citizen Awareness efforts:

✓ An AQP Brochure to explain easily the Plan to the citizens: https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_broschuere_en.pdf

✓ maps of congestion, emissions and air pollution on the main road network created for the Air Quality Plan are made available in Berlin’s Environmental Atlas: http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/dinh_03.htm

✓ Information on air pollution available on the website of the Senate Department for Urban Development and Environment: http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/luftqualitaet/



https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_broschuere_en.pdf

https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_broschuere_en.pdf


http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/luftqualitaet/

IV - Cities Air Quality Plans: examples of best practices

ix

HELSINKI

Air Quality Plan of the City of Helsinki 2017-2024 https://www.hel.fi/static/ymk/julkaisut/julkaisu-11-16.pdf (English summary) Themes and pollutants: traffic (NO2, PM2.5), street dust (PM10), wood burning (PM2.5, B(a)P) Objective: to get below the annual limit value for NO2, to generally improve the air quality in Helsinki For AQP structure:

✓ a short summary in English for each report;

✓ a separate detailed report with Analysis of Air Quality situation a part from the AQP:

Background Report of the AQP of the City

of Helsinki 2017-2024 (English summary) For Participatory process:

✓ Public consultation and Stakeholder involvement description in a dedicated publication:

Interaction Report of the AQP of the City of Helsinki 2017-2024 (English summary) https://www.hel.fi/static/ymk/ilmansuojelu/vuorovaikutusraportti.pdf (See also Section 6.2 of this Code) For Citizen Awareness efforts:

✓ An air quality citizens awareness brochure

Clean Air for Helsinki - Brochure (English version)

www.hel.fi/air-protection

✓ A website with real time information on air quality situation:

Air quality in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area – Website www.hsy.fi/airquality

Legislation on Air pollution control in Finland

http://www.ym.fi/en-US/The_environment/Legislation_and_instructions/Climate_protection_legislation


https://www.hel.fi/static/ymk/ilmansuojelu/vuorovaikutusraportti.pdf

http://www.hel.fi/air-protection

http://www.hsy.fi/airquality




x

STRASBOURG

Plan de Protection de l’Atmosphère de l’agglomeration strasbourgeoise, 2015-2020 http://www.bas-rhin.gouv.fr/Politiques-publiques/Environnement-prevention-des-risques-naturels-et-technologiques/Air/Plan-de-Protection-de-l-Atmosphere-de-l-agglomeration-strasbourgeoise-PPA Themes and pollutants: PM10, NO2 Objective: Compliance with EU Limit Values for NO2 and PM10; to reduce citizens’ exposure and AQ related health impact also to local exceedances For AQP structure:

✓ rigorous structure and detailed report

✓ Impact assessment of measures finalized to consider ‘citizens exposure’ to several pollutants

For consistent implementation of Dir. 2008/50/EC For APHEKOM approach in health assessment For Citizen Awareness efforts: http://www.laircmonaffaire.net/advices_notes.php?PHPSESSID=28d51b5be9fae3a2c96dee63ff2de88e




http://www.laircmonaffaire.net/advices_notes.php?PHPSESSID=28d51b5be9fae3a2c96dee63ff2de88e

http://www.laircmonaffaire.net/advices_notes.php?PHPSESSID=28d51b5be9fae3a2c96dee63ff2de88e


xi

ZAGREB

Air Quality Plan of the City of Zagreb (2015-2023) http://www.eko.zagreb.hr/default.aspx?id=247 Themes and pollutants: traffic (NO2, PM10, PM2.5), households plants (PM10, benzo(a)pirene), expansion of measuring stations network for continuous AQ monitoring Objective: Air quality improvement in the territory of the City of Zagreb and compliance with EU Limit Values. A significant effect on reduction of levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), PM10 and PM2.5 and benzo(a)pyrene - B(a)P and Ozone (O3) is expected. For AQP structure: ✓ A full version in Croatian (SGGZ 5/15):

Action Plan for Improving Air Quality in the City of Zagreb

For consistent implementation of Dir. 2008/50/EC: ✓ The Air Quality Plan of the City of

Zagreb format and content are defined in accordance with national legislation in which the provisions of 2008/50/EC Directive have been transposed

✓ For regular monitoring reporting: o 2015 and 2016 Report on the

Implementation of the Action Plan for the Improvement of Air Quality in the City of Zagreb

✓ For integration with other Plans and Programmes at local and national scale:

o Programme of the City of Zagreb for the protection of air, ozone layer, climate change adaptation and mitigation;

o Sustainable Energy Action Plan for the development of the City of Zagreb (SEAP);

o Plan for the protection of air, ozone layer and climate change mitigation in the Republic of Croatia for the 2013- 2017 period (OG 139/13).

✓ For tacking B(a)P emissions and reduction of ground-level ozone pollution (O3). For reduction of O3 precursors (e.g. NOx, VOC) local measures are not sufficient, and action by the international community within the framework of LRTAP and the related Gothenburg protocol is required.

Legislation on Air pollution control in Republic of Croatia http://www.mzoip.hr/en/environment/regulations-and-international-treaties-ratified-or-signed-by-the-republic-of-croatia.html




xii

V Examples of Air Quality measures

TRANSPORT MEASURES

Low Emission Zone - LEZ for trucks and cars (Berlin)

This emission-based limited traffic zone includes the inner city of Berlin within the suburban rail ring. It covers about 85 km2 of a very densely built-up area with more than 1 million residents. The traffic restriction applies permanently and independently from the current pollution level of the air. It is based on German vehicle emissions level classification for which three coloured stickers have been settled to label lowest emission vehicles (highly emitting vehicles have no sticker) in order to help roadside controls in LEZs implementation.

Source: Errore. Riferimento a collegamento ipertestuale non

valido.https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de

The following requirements are effective for the whole area of the LEZ, settled in 2005. Stage I from 1.1.2008: Vehicles (trucks and cars) must at least be up to the standards of the emission group 2. Vehicles of emission groups 2, 3 and 4, i.e. with red, yellow or green stickers, are allowed to drive. Stage II from 1.1.2010: Only vehicles of emission group 4, i.e. with a ‘green sticker’, are allowed to drive. LEZ results in Berlin were assessed in term of vehicular emissions avoided as in the followings. Stage I: - 24% of diesel soot, - 14% NOx; Stage II: - 58% of diesel soot, compared to trend without LEZ. In the framework of the AQ Plan of Berlin 2011-2017, in consideration of the persistent high fraction of Euro 3 diesel vehicles without a particulate filter due to individual exemptions it was decided to limit those only to few categories. The effects of this tightening of the LEZ was assessed by modelling for main roads a reduction of vehicular emissions: - 3.6 t/a of diesel soot (or -3.6% black carbon emissions); - 55 t/a (-1.1%) of

V - Examples of Air Quality measures

xiii

NOx emissions. However, benefits in term of emissions reduction and air quality are expected also in minor roads and beyond the boundary of the LEZ. In term of air quality the effect of the LEZ was assessed in the framework of the AQ Plan of Berlin together with the others ‘vehicles technology’ measures: the number of residents on main roads affected by EU limit value exceedances could be reduced approximatively by 25% for PM10 and by 46% for NO2 thanks also the LEZ Stage II implementation. Notably this kind of measure allows to reduce the exposure to traffic proximity primary pollutant (-5% of NO2 and -50% of diesel soot/Black Carbon concentration measured) and less to secondary pollutants such as PM10, more affected by larger scale pollution phenomena. Berlin experience showed that to reduce the economic and social consequence of this measure it is useful introduce different stages with long transitional periods and economic incentives for scrappaging older vehicles to help vehicle owner. Lesson learnt is also that the city management of granting individual exemptions is a human resources cost to be considered in planning. For more details:

• https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/paper_lez_berlin_en.pdf

• https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/lrp_150310_en.pdf

• Brukmann and Lutz, 2011: Do Low Emission Zones reduce the burden of particulates?, XV ETH Conference on Combustion Generated Nanoparticles, Zurich, June 26th-29th 2011

Additional information about LEZ in German Cities could be found in the following document:

• UBA, 2015: Inventory and effectiveness of measures to improve air quality, TEXTE 05/2015, ISSN 1862-4804 http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/inventory-effectiveness-of-measures-to-improve-air

https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/paper_lez_berlin_en.pdf

https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/paper_lez_berlin_en.pdf






xiv

Congestion Charge (London) - Road pricing to reduce congestion

The congestion charging scheme in London was introduced in February 2003. This road charging scheme charges a daily rate for vehicles to enter and travel in the 21 square kilometres central zone between 7:00 and 18:30 during weekdays. The scheme is supported by an infrastructure of camera sites, using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology cameras placed on the entry points into the congestion zone and in locations within the zone.

Source: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge/congestion-charge-zone/road-signs

Vehicles driving in the charging zone during the charging period are charged a flat rate of £10 per day. Vehicles exempt from the scheme include licensed taxis and minicabs, buses, motorcycles, vehicles for disabled persons including “blue badge” holders and vehicles with 9 seats or more. Residents in the charging zone - of which approximately 40,000 households own a car - are entitled to a 90% discount of the charge. Within the charging zone road traffic flows have decreased by 15% and mean daily traffic speed has increased by 20 per cent (from 19 km/h to 23 km/h). Congestion in the charging zone has been reduced by 30%. Car trips into the central charging zone has reduced by 65,000 - 70,000 per day. Changes in vehicle km travelled in the charging zone shows an increase in buses (+20%), an increase in taxis (+13%) and a decrease in cars (-29%) and heavy goods vehicles (-11%). Bus usage has increased inside and outside the congestion charging zone. In terms of air quality, congestion charging in London has been found to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulates by 12% and carbon dioxide by 19% within the charging zone. For more details:

• http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/default.aspxhttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/default.aspx

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge/congestion-charge-zone/road-signs

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/default.aspx




xv

T-Charge (London)

The Mayor of London has launched a £10 toxicity ‘https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/emissions-surchargeT-Charge’ aimed at older, more polluting vehicles on London roads. The T-Charge, which went into force on 23 October 2017, applies mainly to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006, but also includes later models. The T-Charge aims to help improve air quality in London, in particular with regard to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM), both of which have an adverse effect on human health.

Source: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/mayors-new-ps10-toxicity-charge-londons-most-polluting-cars

The T-Charge (officially known as the ‘Emissions Surcharge’) aims to discourage the use of older, more polluting vehicles driving into and within central London. The T-Charge applies in the same area as the existing Congestion Charging Zone. It is the first step towards the introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), a 24-hour charging zone in central London for older vehicles. For more details:

• https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/mayors-new-ps10-toxicity-

charge-londons-most-polluting-cars

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/emissions-surcharge

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/emissions-surcharge

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/mayors-new-ps10-toxicity-charge-londons-most-polluting-cars

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/mayors-new-ps10-toxicity-charge-londons-most-polluting-cars


xvi

Environmental Bonus for Buses Cutting Emissions (Helsinki)

Source: https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/news/news/app-teaches-helsinki-citizens-about-pollution-1793

Helsinki’s goal is emission-free public transport by 2025. Environmental bonuses are paid on the basis of a tendering process to bus operators for measures to cut emissions. The tendering process takes account of both carbon emissions and harmful local emissions such as small particles and nitrogen oxides. The emphasis is on reducing nitrogen oxides and carbon emissions. Bonuses are paid for new measures that exceed the commitments set out in the currently valid contracts. Helsinki assesses the measures offered and pays bonuses according to the emission reductions achieved. The costs of emissions avoided are assessed according to the Directive 2009/33/EC. Measures are ranked according to their cost-effectiveness and they are procured with the allotted sum of money (1 million euros in 2016). The bonus has been applied to finance emission reductions by using biofuels and by retrofitting EEV buses with high NO2 emissions (15 000 euros per retrofitted bus). After the retrofit the emissions of these EEV buses in real world driving were measured and found to be on the Euro VI level. There is an environmental zone in the city centre applying to local Helsinki buses and Helsinki waste collection vehicles. When new lines and areas are opened for competitive bidding, the buses and waste collection vehicles operating within the environmental zone must comply with the Euro VI emission norms. The environmental zone covers the Southern part of the Hakamäentie road. For more details:

• https://www.hsl.fi/en/news/2016/hsl-invests-one-million-euros-reducing-emissions-9094

https://www.hsl.fi/en/news/2016/hsl-invests-one-million-euros-reducing-emissions-9094

https://www.hsl.fi/en/news/2016/hsl-invests-one-million-euros-reducing-emissions-9094


xvii

Cleaning public transport (Berlin)

Source: https://www.berlin.de/

The public transport company of Berlin (BVG) operates a fleet of currently about 1,320 buses. These buses are equipped since the late 1990s gradually with particle filters. Prior to entry into force of the Clean Air Plan 2005, about 72 % of the buses were equipped with particulate filters. With these filters, the particulate emission of buses was reduced by about 70-90%. In addition to the particle emission the buses also contribute significantly to local pollution by nitrogen oxides. In 2005 the following goals to reduce emissions of the buses were set out in the Clean Air Plan: full retrofitting with particulate filters by 2010 and conversion to Euro5/EEV-Standard of 600 buses by 2010. The objectives of the Clean Air Plan were implemented in the local transport plan (NVP) of Berlin from 2006 to 2009 and incorporated in the draft NVP 2010-2014. The BVG has procured between 2005 and 2010 a total of 923 buses, 161 of them with the exhaust emission standard Euro 3, 409 with Euro 4 and 353 with EEV/Euro 5. All newly purchased diesel buses are equipped with a closed particulate filter. For more details:

• http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/Luftreinhalteplan_Berlin_2011.pdf

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/Luftreinhalteplan_Berlin_2011.pdf

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/luftreinhalteplan/download/Luftreinhalteplan_Berlin_2011.pdf


xviii

Buses retrofitting for NOx (Copenhagen)

City buses contribute to a large proportion of air pollution in cities because normal filters

and catalysts only function well with high motor temperatures. The low speed and many

stops counteract the traditional pollution reduction systems in cities.

In order to improve the air quality for the citizens, 299 diesel busses in Copenhagen has

been fitted with an innovating NOx reduction technology that neutralizes NOx emissions

even at low motor temperatures, reducing emissions by 90-95%.

Source: https://ing.dk/artikel/299-busser-i-koebenhavn-har-faaet-nox-og-partikelfiltre-182756

The upgraded fleet is a mix of both older and newer vehicles, and after the upgrade they

are robustly meeting Euro VI emissions legislation in all real driving conditions, including

congested city driving and at sub-zero temperatures.

City of Copenhagen has reduced NOx emissions by up to 95% on its public buses since

implementing new clean air filters in early 2016. The total amount of NOx emissions in

Copenhagen have been reduced by 4% as a result of the new bus filters.

For more details:

• http://www.cleanaireurope.org/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/downloads/

The_Danish_Ecocouncil/Clean_air_CPH_2014_UK.pdf

• The Danish Council, 2014: CLEAN AIR COPENHAGEN: Air quality challenges and

solutions, ISBN: 978-87-92044-65-5, January 2014

http://www.cleanaireurope.org/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/downloads/The_Danish_Ecocouncil/Clean_air_CPH_2014_UK.pdf

http://www.cleanaireurope.org/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/downloads/The_Danish_Ecocouncil/Clean_air_CPH_2014_UK.pdf


xix

Cycling networks, Cycling Highways (Copenhagen/Groningen/London)

A Cycle Super Highway is a cycle highway, where the commuters’ needs have been given the highest priority. The project seeks to create routes that offer fast, comfortable and safe service. A Cycle Super Highway is defined both by its location, as well as its physical qualities. The highway should connect areas with many workers and students to their homes, and to public transportation possibilities as well. The highways should be fast, meaning as direct as possible and with as few stops as possible. A good example of how this is achieved is by the use of green waves. Traffic lights are normally coordinated in favour of cars, but the aim for the Cycle Super Highways, is for traffic lights to be adjusted for cyclists along the many main traffic arteries. At a speed of 20 km/h, cyclists will be able to surf a wave of green lights through the city during rush hour.

Source: http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/strategies-and-policies

Furthermore, the highways have to be comfortable and safe. Comfort is secured by the use of high quality asphalt and maintenance. Security is achieved for instance, by clear marking and distance to cars including advanced stop lines, to make cyclists more visible to motorists, as well as sufficient lightning. In order to reduce risks of accidents, many intersections will be restructured in order to give cyclists priority. For example, in intersections with separate traffic lights for bikes, the cyclists may get a green light four seconds before cars would. In some cases, the head start would be as much as 12 seconds. These initiatives make the cyclists far more visible in traffic. In addition, you get to where you’re going quicker. Clear signage will make it easy for the commuter to find his way. To minimize clutter, design will be based on traditional signage and we will use existing posts where possible. Maintenance is essential for the commuters, especially during the winter. The Cycle Super Highways will be given the highest priority in each municipality, concerning issues of road repair and snow removal. For more details:

• http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/sites/default/files/Cycle%20Super%20Highways.pdf

• http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/concept

• http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/02/how-groningen-grew-to-be-worlds-number.html

• http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11901.aspx

http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/strategies-and-policies

http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/sites/default/files/Cycle%20Super%20Highways.pdf

http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/sites/default/files/Cycle%20Super%20Highways.pdf

http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/concept

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/02/how-groningen-grew-to-be-worlds-number.html

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/02/how-groningen-grew-to-be-worlds-number.html

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11901.aspx


xx

Parking discount for Low-emission Vehicles (Helsinki)

Source: https://www.ksml.fi/kotimaa/Tuleeko-sakko-jos-parkkimittari-on-rikki-%E2%80%93-

pys%C3%A4k%C3%B6inninvalvoja-kertoo/192892

Low-emission vehicles get a 50 % reduction on parking fees in Helsinki. The discount

applies to all paid car parks in general traffic areas controlled by the city. It also applies

to paid resident and corporate parking permits. In order to get the discount, the parking

charge must be paid either by mobile phone or a specific payment device (Comet).

The emission criteria are reviewed regularly. The criteria cover both carbon dioxide

emissions and regulated emissions which have an impact on air quality. These emissions

are regulated with Euro norms. From the beginning of 2017 the criteria are Euro 5 for all

types of cars and specific CO2 limits depending on the fuel: 50 g/km for diesel cars (only

plug-in hybrids fulfil this criteria), 100 g/km for petrol cars and 150 g/km for natural gas

(bifuel) and ethanol (flexifuel) cars. All fully electric cars and electrically operated class L

vehicles which have been registered for road use are categorized as low-emission

vehicles.

For more details:

• http://www.hel.fi/www/helsinki/en/maps-

andtransport/parking/vahapaastoisten_alennus

https://www.ksml.fi/kotimaa/Tuleeko-sakko-jos-parkkimittari-on-rikki-%E2%80%93-pys%C3%A4k%C3%B6inninvalvoja-kertoo/192892

https://www.ksml.fi/kotimaa/Tuleeko-sakko-jos-parkkimittari-on-rikki-%E2%80%93-pys%C3%A4k%C3%B6inninvalvoja-kertoo/192892

http://www.hel.fi/www/helsinki/en/maps-andtransport/parking/vahapaastoisten_alennus

http://www.hel.fi/www/helsinki/en/maps-andtransport/parking/vahapaastoisten_alennus


xxi

Smart Solar Charging for electric cars (Utrecht)

Source: https://smartsolarcharging.eu/uniek-energiesysteem-in-utrechtse-wijk-lombok-breidt-uit-in-de-

regio/

The measure involves the development of renewable energy (solar power) in

combination with storage in electric car batteries of a surplus of the decentralized

produced power in order to avoid grid stress. Electric cars can be charged and discharged

according the demand of the power in the house or the electric car battery. Bidirectional

charging points for electric cars, provide optimal use of decentralized generated solar

power. At this charging point, the car can both charge and discharge wherever the

power is necessary. The car battery is therefore used as a storage unit for solar energy

that can be used when necessary.

Solar powered electric mobility is made accessible to a large audience by sharing the

costs among users. Through a website ‘We Drive Solar’ residents can apply for a 100%

(shared) electric car with a range of 300 kilometres, which also forms part of a local

energy system on solar energy. All residents, businesses and organizations in the

province of Utrecht can participate. Entry fee: € 99, - per month, including mileage,

insurance and an app to unlock the car. Each car gets its own parking space and charging

point. There are 150 cars available.

For more details:

• https://youtu.be/4FehqeU62Jk?list=PLvzHLhum83vvaflbil9BcQPzea1DrB5_6

https://smartsolarcharging.eu/uniek-energiesysteem-in-utrechtse-wijk-lombok-breidt-uit-in-de-regio/

https://smartsolarcharging.eu/uniek-energiesysteem-in-utrechtse-wijk-lombok-breidt-uit-in-de-regio/

https://youtu.be/4FehqeU62Jk?list=PLvzHLhum83vvaflbil9BcQPzea1DrB5_6


xxii

Street cleaning and dust binding to reduce re-suspension (Helsinki)

Street dust concentrations in Helsinki have been successfully reduced by:

- intensive street cleaning with high-pressure washing equipment;

- dust binding with calcium chloride solution.

Source: http://www.redust.fi/files/2015/03/Laymans-report_net2.pdf

Different methods of cleaning streets were studied in the REDUST Life + project in 2011-2014. The best results for respirable street dust mitigation in the street cleaning demonstration tests were achieved with methods which apply high pressure water washing, such as the modern street scrubber. During first day after treatment the emission reduction was approximately 40% and during the first week after treatment on an average 20%. Compared to traditional street cleaning equipment (so-called suction sweepers) the modern street scrubber has additional high pressure washers which reach the dust accumulated in the pores of street surfaces. Reduction in respirable street dust emissions was not recorded for a traditional suction sweeper in the demonstration testing. The traditional method is based on mechanical brushing and suction, which does not deep-clean the street surface like the machines with actual pressure washers. But when the traditional suction sweeper was operated in combination with a separate lorry using high pressure washing, reductions in respirable street dust emissions were achieved. Dust binding refers to the spreading of liquid solutions on paved streets to mitigate street dust emissions. In the Helsinki region mainly calcium chloride is used for dust binding. The effects of dust binding on street dust emissions were studied in the REDUST Life + project in 2011-2014. The results showed that dust binding is a very cost-effective way to reduce high street winter and springtime dust concentrations in road environments. Targeted dust binding to street edges and to the area in the middle of the lanes decreased street dust emissions by approximately 40% during two days after the action and whole lane dust binding by approximately 60% for three days after the action. For more details:

• REDUST Life + project website, Layman´s report: http://www.redust.fi/files/2015/03/Laymans-report_net2.pdf

• REDUST Life + project website, Best practices report: http://www.redust.fi/files/2014/12/REDUST-best-practices.pdf

http://www.redust.fi/files/2015/03/Laymans-report_net2.pdf

http://www.redust.fi/files/2015/03/Laymans-report_net2.pdf

http://www.redust.fi/files/2014/12/REDUST-best-practices.pdf


xxiii

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR MEASURES

Non-Road Mobile Machinery Low Emission Zone - NRMM LEZ (London)

Low emission zone for non-road machinery e.g. construction

machinery: within central areas of London all NRMM must

meet Stage 3B (3A in outside central London).

For more details:

• http://nrmm.london/

Source: http://nrmm.london/

http://nrmm.london/

http://nrmm.london/


xxiv

Particle Filters eco-label for construction machinery (Berlin)

On public works sites in Berlin, many construction machines have to meet

environmental requirements. Compliance with the requirements must be demonstrated

by the contractor. To simplify this, an eco-plaque for construction machinery was

created in Berlin: it is an eco-label in terms of public procurement law.

The environmental standards required on public works sites in Berlin are usually met by

new machines without further systems. Older machines can still be used if they are

retrofitted with a particulate filter. In these filters, the very smallest soot particles are

retained, so that both the particle mass and the number of particles in the exhaust gas

are reduced by more than 90%.

The introduction of environmental standards for construction equipment and filter

retrofitting is a new challenge for many construction companies. For a successful

retrofit, careful filter selection and proper maintenance are essential. Therefore, the

Senate Department for Urban Development and Environment promotes a consultancy

project by 2016 that provides companies with technical support.

Source:

Source: https://www.berlin.de/

For more details:

• https://www.berlin.de/senuvk/umwelt/luftqualitaet/de/baumaschinen/pl

aketten.shtml

https://www.berlin.de/


xxv

HEATING SUPPLY MEASURES

Ban of solid fuels for household heating (Kraków)

The European Environmental Agency has ranked the City of Krakow the third most polluted city in Europe. Being air quality an issue for a long time in the city of Krakow it has inspired grass-root initiatives such as the Krakow Smog Alert (Krakowski Alarm Smogowy).

Source: http://www.krakowpost.com

Acceleration of anti-smog activities was possible thanks to the LIFE Integrated Project ‘Implementation of Air Quality Plan for Małopolska Region - Małopolska in a healthy atmosphere’, LIFE-IP MALOPOLSKA - a project implemented by the regional authorities of the Małopolska Region and Silesian Region, the Krakow Smog Alert and 55 municipalities including the City of Krakow. The Regional Assembly of the Małopolska Region adopted in 2016 a ban of coal and wood as heating fuels in Krakow starting September 2019, through a specific Municipal Regulation (so-called anti-smog resolution). This is a radical measure for Poland and the acceptance for these new laws by the city inhabitants wouldn’t be possible without the long and active engagement of initiatives such as the ‘Krakow Smog Alert’ and support from regional and local authorities offering subsidies up to 100% for solid fuel boilers replacement and additional assistance in covering the differences in heating costs for people affected by energy poverty. At the beginning of 2018, less than 10,000 boilers and stoves remained in Krakow out of 24,000 counted in 2015. For more details:

• https://powietrze.malopolska.pl/en/anti-smog-resolution/

http://www.krakowpost.com/

https://powietrze.malopolska.pl/en/anti-smog-resolution/


xxvi

District heating mandatory for new buildings (Upper Austria)

The Air Quality Protection and Energy Act of Upper Austria regulates the installation and

use of heating systems.

Source: https://www.upperaustria.com

Since 2012 it requires new public buildings and apartment buildings including more than

three apartments to be connected to a public district heating system in the case such a

system is available.

In addition, cities where are quality limit values are breached might require all new

apartment buildings to be connected to the district heating system. This is the case in

the city of Linz.

There are exemptions for buildings with heating systems based on renewable energy

and passive houses.

For more details:

• http://www.land-

oberoesterreich.gv.at/cps/rde/xchg/ooe/hs.xsl/68293_DEU_HTML.htm

• http://www.land-

oberoesterreich.gv.at/cps/rde/xchg/ooe/hs.xsl/110309_DEU_HTML.htm

http://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/cps/rde/xchg/ooe/hs.xsl/68293_DEU_HTML.htm





xxvii

CITIZENS’ AWARENESS MEASURES

Air Quality Alert Websites (London)

A dedicated website shows maps with forecasts of expected air quality over the next three days, to enable citizens to plan ahead. It is possible to see the ’health advice’ to learn more about how the expected pollution levels might affect citizens health. The maps are produced using CERC's world-leading ’ADMS-Urban’ air quality model. Free air quality alerts are available on demand on Mobile App.

Source: https://www.airtext.info/

Measurements of current air quality are available on LondonAir web site.

Source: https://www.londonair.org.uk/london

For more details:

• www.airtext.info/

• http://www.londonair.org.uk/LondonAir/Default.aspx

http://www.airtext.info/health

http://www.cerc.co.uk/environmental-software/ADMS-Urban-model.html

https://www.airtext.info/

http://www.londonair.org.uk/

https://www.londonair.org.uk/london

http://www.airtext.info/

http://www.londonair.org.uk/LondonAir/Default.aspx

xxviii

VI Recommendations for Air Quality Planning on

Good Policies, Governance and Practices

In the following sections are reported some recommendations formulated by the cities

that responded to a survey launched by the PAQ to its members in the framework of

WP4 activities, which prepared Action 2 - Better Air Quality Planning (Governance).

These recommendations, fully implemented in the text of this Code, could be used for

inspiration by cities in drafting, implementing and monitoring their own Air Quality Plan

(AQP).

Policies

Aspects to be considered when drafting AQP

➔ Complementarity of all activities defined in the AQP and those included in other

relevant Planning documents of the City, in order to obtain a positive synergistic

impact and measurable

➔ Complementarity with other strategic documents adopted on regional and national

level

Governance

Aspects to be considered when drafting AQP

➔ Involving the Stakeholders who carry out the actual air quality measures (e.g.

procurement of bus fleet, traffic system planning offices, tertiary system

representative organizations, energy supplier agencies) in preparation for the plan,

to ensure their full implementation

➔ Stakeholder/Public Consultation

➔ Looking for Political and Public support for air quality measures listed in the AQP

➔ Looking for available funding for specific measures

ISSUES TO BE addressed in drafting AQP

SELECTION OF MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED

➔ Verifying if any management/maintenance of air quality measures need to be

enforced by Local Environmental Protection Agencies or National Authorities (e.g.

Large infrastructures within the boundary or in the near proximity of the City)

ISSUES TO BE addressed in MONITORING AQP

MONITORING IMPLEMENTATION OF AQP

➔ An important component of the process of implementation of AQP is supervision

and control through reports on measures implementation, which contain a

VI - Recommendations for Air Quality Planning on Good Policies, Governance

and Practices

xxix

description of measures, information on undertaken activities, performance

assessment, potential issues, deviations and justification. Based on such feedback it

is possible to consider the effectiveness of the selection of measures defined in the

plan or avoid potential problems in the development of new and/or other plans

How to deal with Air Quality issues that cannot be solved at urban level

REGIONAL AND METROPOLITAN ISSUES

➔ Involvement of Regional or Metropolitan area Organizations and Agencies in order

to better manage main emission sources (e.g. roads and highways, public transport,

Local Environmental Authority)

NATIONAL ISSUES

➔ As far as over-regional issues are concerned City Authorities could send

communication to or look for dialogue with relevant National Ministries asking

them to take action (e.g. to amend the legislation concerning vehicle taxation and to

enable regional congestion charges with the revenue directed to the region in

question)

➔ Lobbying Central Government on a number of air quality issues that cannot be

resolved solely at a city level (e.g. a national diesel scrappage scheme, reform to

Vehicle Excise Duty, a new Clean Air Act)

➔ The City Authorities could also address these issues to a National Council with

representatives of cities/big cities

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

➔ Lobbying at international level

Tuning between cities AQP and AQP developed for other zones and agglomerations

During the development of the AQP it is important to:

➔ to create co-operation between national, regional, agglomerations and cities

authorities, in areas where air quality standards are not met (crossing areas) to meet

the limit values

➔ to request opinions on the Plan and its measures from the neighbouring cities that

belong to the Metropolitan Area, in order to cooperate and harmonize measures

➔ to align cities air quality strategy with Regional Air Quality Plans and National Air

Quality Strategy, Plans and Programs

Practices

➔ Following the suggestions and source of inspiration listed in the present Code

of Good Practice for Cities Air Quality Plans, which is, at present, the best

Recommendation for AQ planning.

Publication as pdf: https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/air-quality

ISBN 9788894413502 ISBN-A 10.978.88944135/02 https://doi.org/10.978.88944135/02 © AIE/Ediser, 2018

Contact: [email protected]


https://doi.org/10.978.88944135/02

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

CODE OF GOOD PRACTICES FOR CITIES AIR QUALITY PLANS · VIII Executive summary The Air Quality Plan is a strategic planning instrument introduced by the Ambient Air Quality Directive